One Piece: Journey
by Kyosuke Shirobane
Summary: 10 Years after the start of the original One Piece, the coveted treasure still hasn't been found. Will it ever be found? Well, James D. Shade and the Renegade Pirates have other plans about that...OCs abound, please R
1. Renegade Pirates

Hey there everyone, it's me. Yeah, I saw all these types of One Piece fics and felt like doing one myself, so here goes. So yeah, it's set 10 years after the start of One Piece, but it still hasn't been found yet. Will Luffy and his gang appear in it? Maybe...And they'll be new Admirals and Shichibukai, you can bet your bottom dollar on that one. As you all know, One Piece is owned by Eiichiro Oda, but most of the Characters are owned by me. Now then, we're off!

***

The tiny ship closed in on the island. The island was known as Crocodile Rock, named so for it's landmark giant rock that had the distinct shape of the large reptile. The landmark was known all across the region of West Blue. But that's not the focus of this story. The real focus is one that small ship. As it pulled up into the harbor of the island, a man, about age 18 got out. He was wearing a white undershirt with blue pants, with bright blue eyes and had a blond, buzz cut hairdo. This man's name was James D. Shade.

He looked around a bit. "Now, where does one find a ship around here..." He thought to himself, as he began to look around the island.

***

Meanwhile, something else was going on at another location on Crocodile Rock, at the "Beyond the Sea Tavern", the local tavern on the island. During the day, it's usually a pretty quiet place, but...

"Hey Bartender! Why don't you get me another?" Asked a drunk voice. A woman of about 20 with long, flowing, black hair and dark blue eyes with some heavy lipstick on was conversing with the bartender, the effects of alcohol starting to take some effect. She was also wearing an outfit that looked almost to be knight's armor. With a sword resembling that of a Claymore, though significantly smaller, being attached to her hip.

"O, oi" Asked the elderly Bartender "This is your sixth already. Do you even have any money to pay for all this?"

"Hey now, let's cross that bridge when we get there!" Answered the woman with a somewhat drunken smile. She then returned to her drink.

The bartender sighed. He'd had plenty of customers like this in the past, barge right, slowly drowning themselves in drink after drink. Plus he noticed this woman looked to be some sort of fighter. Maybe a thief, or a bounty hunter, or even a pirate...If she didn't want to pay, he'd have no way of convincing her to. His best hope now was for her to pass out and reduce the amount of beer he lost.

"So bartender, tell me...were you an attractive man in your youth?"

The elderly bartender's narrow eyes opened a bit wider for a moment. "W,well I don't know...maybe..."

"C'mon, it's a simple question." Said the woman with a dazed smile. "Did all the ladies love you, or were you rejected a lot?"

"W-what's the point of asking something like that?" Snapped the bartender suddenly. This woman was irritating him now.

Suddenly the door to the tavern opened again. A man walked in and sat down on a stool that was right next to the woman's.

"Oh, and what's your name?" Asked the woman, continuing to be in a daze.

The man looked at her somewhat blankly. "My name?" He asked. "My name's James D. Shade!" He announced, as if he was somewhat important. He then turned his head towards the bartender. "Let's see, I'll have...hmmm...got anything free?"

The Bartender, seeing an opportunity, leaned close towards Shade, and whispered in his ear. "Listen boy, you get this girl here to stop ordering drinks, and I'll give you whatever you want. On the house."

Shade seemed somewhat surprised by this. "Umm..how do I do that?" He whispered back.

"I dunno...make some small talk with her or something. She's pretty wasted already, so you can just come up with whatever and she won't mind. Got it?" The bartender replied.

"Um...got it, I guess." Responded Shade. With that, the whispered conversation act ended. Shade then turned towards the woman.

"Hey there." Said Iris. "What's your name, pretty boy?"

"Um...didn't I already say my name was Shade?" Replied Shade, getting slightly uncomfortable.

"Right right, Shade." Said the woman. "My name is Iris. Nice to meet you too."

"Er...Nice to meet you too." Said Shade back.

"So Shade, tell me, what brings you to this island?" Asked Iris.

"Hey, how'd you know I wasn't from here?" Said Shade, somewhat surprised that she had known that.

"Because," Responded Iris. "I'm not from here either. That makes us similar, I can always tell those kinds of things. So what brings you here?"

"Well, I was looking for a good ship...The one I have right now is no good, it's just made for one..." Said Shade.

"A ship?" Said Iris. She leaned closer. "It couldn't be...are you a pirate?"

"Yep!" Said Shade. "Though, I'm just starting out, I don't even really have a crew yet...or money...but maybe I could find some of those on this island too."

"Oho," Chuckled Iris to herself. _So, this guy, he's a pirate, huh..._ She thought to herself. _Hmmm... interesting..._

Meanwhile, the bartender was beginning to relax a little. _Finally._ He thought. _That boy finally stopped her. He deserves one on the house, like I promised..._ As he was reaching to grab a drink for the boy, the door suddenly burst open again.

This time it was another man. He was quite a large, bald man, standing about 6'5" and appearing to weigh over 220 pounds. On top of that, he was shirtless, revealing his hairy, flabby chest over his white pants.

"Oi, Bartender," He grunted. "Gimme the usual."

The bartender's eyes narrowed again, as his face slightly sickened. "Whatever you say, Iyaz."

"Huh? What was that?!" Said the man known as Iyaz angrily. "You tryin' ta backtalk me or somethin', ya worthless bartender?"

"Oh no, not at all." Said the bartender in a sarcastic tone. However Iyaz did apparently not notice the sarcasm and took a seat, far from Shade and Iris.

"Um, whose that?" Asked Shade.

"He is called Iyaz." Whispered the bartender to them so that Iyaz wouldn't hear. "He's a thief who constantly pillages and steals from other people, plus he owns a 5 Million Beli bounty. He also never pays me and drinks as much as he likes, because he knows I can't do anything."

"Not paying? That's not good." Said Iris, still acting dazed.

_You weren't going to pay either..._Thought the bartender.

"Hey! You gonna give me my drink or what?" Demanded Iyaz from the other end of the bartable.

"Coming, coming," Said the bartender as he prepared the drink for Iyaz.

Suddenly Iyaz noticed something. "Hey! What're you lookin' at punk?!" He said to Shade, who had been looking at him.

"Oh, n-nothing..." Said Shade. 'Please, continue drinking...."

"You tryin' to make me look foolish or something?!" Demanded Iyaz, getting out of his chair and slowly walking towards Shade.

_Oh boy. He's in for it._ Thought the bartender. _Bad mistake, kid._

"H-hey, do we really have to fight?" Asked Shade. "I think it would be better for both of us if we talked this one out..."

"SHUT UP, KID!" Yelled Iyaz, as he fired a punch right at Shade. However as swift as the punch came just as swift a reaction from Shade, who dodged the attack easily. Iyaz looked stunned.

"Wha...how did you do that?!" Asked Iyaz. "My punches are the fastest around!"

_Indeed._ Thought Iris. _This Iyaz guy is serious. I'm not sure if I could block that. Looks like there's more to this boy then meets the eye. This could get interesting..._

"See?" Said Shade. "You can't even hit me anyway! Fighting won't do you any good in this sort of situation!"

"SHUT UP!!!" Yelled Iyaz as he tried to throw some more swift punches, but Shade kept dodging them easily.

"Hey, stop it now, you're going to knock something over if you keep punching like that!" Added Shade, starting to add a few taunts. "And what's with that breath? Did you eat some Nikuyaki or something before coming here?"

This caused Iyaz to stop punching for a moment. "Hey! How'd you know I had that?!"

Shade paused for a moment as well. "Well, you got me. I ate the Kan Kan Fruit. It increases all of my senses, I can see, hear, taste, smell, much better then the normal human you see."

_I see._ Thought Iris. _A Devil Fruit. This is getting even better..._

"Hmmm...A Devil Fruit?" Thought Iyaz. "Now I get why your able to dodge my attacks. But...." Suddenly He began throwing a barrage of punches right towards Shade. "Let's see you dodge all of these!"

"No choice then..." Said Shade. Suddenly he too began firing his own array of punches. "KAN KAN RUSH!" He declared as his fists began to collide with Iyaz's. However, soon it was easy to see how could fire faster. Shade's fists began to break through Iyaz's and then they made direct contact with his face, sending him flying. He collided with the wall, which somehow miraculously did not go down.

"Urgh..." Said Iyaz. "You...you're no ordinary man are you?"

"Of course not." Said Shade. "I am...the man you will become the Pirate King!"

Iyaz grumbled to himself. He knew he was currently unable to defeat the man in front of him, and it frustrated him. "Hmph. I accept defeat for today. But mark my words, this isn't over yet!" With that, Iyaz left the store in a huff.

"Well, now that he's done with.." Said Shade, turning back to the bartender. "Can I have that free drink now.

The bartender, still in awe of what of happened, pulled out a bottle of wine and gave it to Shade.

"Woah! A whole bottle! Thanks!" Said Shade.

"Well...you've earned it." Said the Bartender.

"I'll say." Said Iris. "You've impressed me a lot too."

"Really? Thanks, I guess." Said Shade. "Well, I guess I should be going now."

"Hold on there boy." Said Iris as Shade was beginning to walk out. "Didn't you say you were looking for some crew members?"

Shade looked back at Iris. "Yeah, so?" He asked. There was a moment of silence. Then Shade made the connection. "Are you saying that...you wanna join me?"

"That's what I'm sayin'." Said Iris.

Shade smiled. "Of course! Anyone is welcome to join the Renegade Pirates

"Renegade Pirates?"

"Yeah, it's a name I made up. Pretty cool, huh?" With that, Shade and his new nakama Iris began to walk out of the bar onto their next destination.

"Oh, and Shade-"

"Yeah"

"Can I have that bottle?"

***

Well there you have it for Chapter 1. Please review and give comments or constructive criticism, or this will probably die. Anyways, see you next Chapter!


	2. The Bat Out of Hell

Hey everyone, me again, back with another update. Did my fellow Americans enjoy their Thanksgiving? I know I did. And also Thank you to LaZy-RaIn-DaNcEr for the character submission, I'm sure I'll be able to work him in somewhere :). And here is the next chapter. Enjoy it.

***

"Um...Iris?"

"Yes?" The two were walking down on of the outskirts of the island of Crocodile Rock, looking for a place to buy a ship ("Now we really have to find one" Mentioned Shade).

"Well, I was just wondering," Asked Shade. "I mean, you've joined my crew, yet I still don't really know that much about you."

"Really?" Responded Iris slyly. "Well, you know, I don't really know much about my captain now either. Don't you think that's a little more important?"

"Well..." Pondered Shade. "I'm from Chronic Island, here in the West Blue, and, well...there isn't really much to say..."

"Oh, come on," Said Iris, her gaze attempting to pierce Shade. "You must have more than that."

"Well, what about you?" Shade argued back. "You're asking me all those questions about me, yet you won't tell me anything about yourself..."

"I come from Kuraki Island." Said Iris. "Not that far from here."

Shade looked at her, as if he was expecting her to say something else. "...That's it?" He asked her.

"Well, all you've told me is where you're from, so I figured I'd say the same." Said Iris.

Shade was getting frustrated at this woman's way of talking. "Alright fine, forget about it then." He said. "For now, let's just focus on finding a place that sells ships and be done with it."

"You mean like that one over there?" Asked Iris pointing ahead of them

Shade looked and saw a fairly large shop that had a sign on it that read "Sam's Shipyard" in big, bold red letters. The shop was located right in front of the ocean, as several ships that were anchored behind it, waiting to be sold.

"Well, yeah, I guess that could work." Said Shade, a little embarrassed for not seeing the place earlier. The two walked into the shipyard, where they were greeted by an elderly man, looking even older than the bartender they had met at the tavern. He was wearing a worn-in cap with a plad patterned vest.

"Hey, there. My name's Sam." He greeted them warmly. "You guys lookin' for a ship?"

Shade nodded.

"Well, you came to the right place. I got all sortsa ships. Big ones, small ones, fancy ones, cheap ones, you name it. Just name your price."

"Price?" Asked Shade. He had totally forgotten that he needed money for a ship. "Um...how about free?"

Sam's face suddenly gave Shade a sour glance. "Free? Just who you think you talkin' too boy?!" He spat angrily. "My family's been dealing ships for over two centuries, and you expect me to just hand you over one like that! Get some money, you freeloader!"

"C'mon, you gotta have something." Protested Shade. Sam just shook his head.

"C'mon, _pleeeease_?" Asked Iris with a cute smile.

"Hmph. I won't fall for that." Said Sam. "Get some money and then we'll talk."

"Isn't there anything you have that's really crappy?" Asked Shade. He didn't care what he got at this point. "Something you'll never sell anyway?"

Sam was about to speak, but then something stopped him. He thought hard for a moment then spoke. "Well, you're right, I do have something I'm dyin' to get rid of. But I highly doubt you'll want it."

"Show me it!" Demanded Shade. "I don't care about it's condition it's in, I just need a ship to start with is all."

"Oh don't worry, it's in perfect condition." Said Sam. "And that's exactly why you won't want it."

"Huh?" Asked Shade. The statement didn't make much sense to him.

"C'mon, follow me, I'll show ya." Said Sam, as he began to lead Shade and Iris to a part of his shipyard.

***

"Well, here it is." Said Sam, as they stopped right in front of a ship. Shade looked at the ship and gazed in awe at what he saw.

The ship was a very fearsome sight. Ship was very large looking as if it could be fit for 100 people. It's mast were long and tall and at the top of each one was a skull-shaped figure. The sails hung from what looked like bat's wings. And at the front of the ship, there was a figurehead of a large, red, demon head.

"Wow, this ship is awesome!" Remarked Shade.

"Very intimidating." Noted Iris. "I wouldn't want to be seeing this ship if I were an enemy."

"Yep, she's a beaut', all right." Remarked Sam. "The _Bat Out of Hell_. Armed to the teeth with cannons, very strong structure, it could probably last a trek to the whole Grand Line and back. It' truly one of a kind."

"But why would you be wanting to just give this away?" Asked Shade. "If I were you, I'd charge over 100 Million for this ship!"

"Well," Said Sam seriously. "You haven't heard the story behind this ship."

"Story?" Inquired Shade.

"Yep. It's got quite a tale behind it." Said Sam, beginning the story. "I've told you about my family being in this business for over two centuries, right? Well, we've got records on every shape we've bought or sold. All except this one. No one in my family knows how it landed in our hands. My dad told me he thought it came straight from hell itself..." He paused again, to clear his breath. "Well, the real spooky part is, this ship's been bought by plenty of times. Pirates, Explorers, even a Marine squad bought it once."

"Wait," Interrupted Shade. "What do you mean 'plenty of times'?"

"Well," Said Sam. "Every single one of those pirates, explorers, and marines who've bought it...every single on of 'em was killed. Entire crews were massacred while riding on this ship. From pirate attacks, freak storms, illnesses, you name it, the number of people who've died riding on this thing is so much I don't even wanna know. But the ship...the ship has stayed intact. No, not just intact, it's practically _untouched._ And it's found it's way back to this place every time."

"Hmm...very frightening indeed." Said and amused Iris.

"Well...that is...pretty scary." Said Shade, a little shaken up by the story. But soon he found his voice again. "But...I still want it!"

"Really now?" Asked Sam. "Are you prepared then, to die a horrible death upon this ship?"

Shade gave a hard stare back at Sam. "No," He answered. "Because this is the ship on which I will become the Pirate King on!"

"Pirate King?" Said Sam. A grin showed up on his face. "I see, so your a pirate. The journey's going to be hard enough with an ordinary ship. Do you think you could make it with a cursed ship such as this one?"

"Of course!" Said Shade, with his confidence rising. "If I can't conquer this ship, how can I think of conquering the Grand Line?"

This caused Sam's grin to widen even more. _This kid,_ He thought, _He's got some spunk. And there's something different about him, something different from the other people who've bought this ship..._ "Alright kid, tell you what. I'll give you the _Bat Out of Hell_, free of charge. But in exchange, you gotta promise me one thing, alright?"

"Sure old man," Said Shade. "What is it?"

"If you use this ship, you gotta promise me you won't go dyin' on me. And if you and your crew do die on it, try to at least take the ship down with you. I don't want it showin' up back here, you understand?"

This time it was Shade's turn to have a grin appear on his face. "Heh, that's all?" He remarked. "I was planning to do that even without you telling me!"

"Then it's a deal." Said Sam. "By the way, I never got your name. What is it, boy?" He inquired suddenly.

"My name?" Responded Shade. "My name...is James D. Shade! Don't you forget it!"

"Shade, huh?" Said Sam. "Don't worry, it's a name I'll be sure to remember!"

***

"Wow, this ship really amazing!" Called out Shade, as he was examining the interiors of the ship, while Iris was sitting out on the front of the ship. "The kitchen looks amazing! And so does the downstairs area! I can't believe we got this for free!"

"I'll say," Hiccuped Iris. "The space out here on the front is niiiiiiceeee and ooooopen..."

"Hey," Called out Shade. "Don't tell me you're wasted again already?"

"What *hic* are you talking about? When did I say anything like that?" Called out Iris as she took another sip of the wine bottle, given to them by the bartender for defeating Iyaz.

Shade couldn't do anything else in this situation but groan.

***

Unbeknown to the two Renegade Pirate members, the ship was rapidly approaching the next island. The island was known as Rebirth Island, as the first settlers on the island arrived there to seek a fresh start in life. It was also the location of a Marine base.

"C-captain Gei!" Called out one Marine rom inside the base, as he rushed into the captain's room, binoculars in his hand. He saw the familiar sight of his captain, a large, burly man wearing a marine captain uniform."Forgive me for barging in, but I have urgent news to report!"

"Hmm, what is it?" Asked the Captain known as Gei.

"Just now," Said the Marine. "I've just spotted an incoming Pirate Ship!"

"A Pirate Ship?!" Said Gei in alarm. "Are you sure?"

"Well, it doesn't have a Jolly Roger to speak of, but the design of it...it s without a doubt a pirate ship in my mind!"

"Let me see!" Said Gei as he and the marine rushed outside to the base.

"Well I'll be," Remarked Gei as he laid eyes on the ship. "That's a Pirate Ship without a doubt!"

"Should we star preparing, sir?" Asked the marine.

"Yes. Alert everyone." Answered Gei. "You're right that they don't have a Jolly Roger...they must be fairly new. We should hopefully be able to take them down if they attack us."

"Do you think," Asked the marine. "We will have to use _them_ to help us?"

Gei shuddered at the thought. "Hopefully not. Those guys don't follow true justice...oh, what are we saying?" He said, smiling. "This job will be accomplished by us, the marines! Now, go alert the other men!"

The marine smiled. "Yes sir!" He said, giving a salute to his Captain before running off to alert the other marines.

***

Well, there you have it. How did you guys think of it? Please review, and let me know how you feel, it'll make future chapters better. Trust me on that one. And feel free to submit your own Character, if you want to.


	3. The Carter Family I

A/N: Hello again everyone, I'm back again to give you another chapter of my story. This chapter also introduces Kai, the OC sent in by LaZy-RaIn-DaNcEr. Hope you all enjoy this new installment!

***

"Well, here we are." Said Shade as they set foot on the island. The _Bat Out of Hell_ had been docked at the front of the island, as Shade and Iris began to walk around towards a nearby town. "It's best if we try to find another crew member." Mentioned Shade. "Maybe a musician, or a sniper for the cannons..."

"Or a chef, or doctor, or something actually important." Retorted Iris.

Shade gave her a "That wasn't necessary" look. "Whatever," He responded. "Let's just head into town and see what we can find."

***

"Woah, nice houses." Remarked Shade as he and Iris strode into town. The streets were lined up with all sorts of expensive looking houses and shops as far as the eye could see. But the most peculiar thing about the island was the evident lack of people. No one was walking down these streets and shopping at any of the stores. It was like a millionaire ghost town.

"Nice town, but where are all the people at?" Asked Iris.

"Good question." Said Shade. Suddenly he heard. "Hey, I think I hear something over here!" He said, turning in an eastern direction.

"Are you sure?" Asked a surprised Iris. 'I didn't hear anything."

"Idiot, don't you remember? My Kan Kan Fruit gives me super senses. My hearing is a lot better than yours!" Responded Shade. He then turned back to the direction he heard the noise. "I think it's from down this alleyway!" He said. He and Iris ran towards the alleyway, turned the corner, and then they both saw what Shade heard.

"..._This_ is what you heard?" Asked Iris jokingly.

What they saw was a man, who was about forty, but his long, unshaven beard made it seem as if he was much older. He was wearing a tattered, brown jacket over equally tattered looking clothes and pants, with an old, black ski cap above his head, hair dripping out of it. He was fast asleep, sitting against one of the buildings.

"Well, it's a person at least. Maybe he can tell us why no one's here." Said Shade, he walked over to the man an tried to nudge him awake. "Um, sir..."

The man awoke with a start. "Who's there?!" He cried out to no one in particular, looking around franticly. "Where are you?! Come out of hiding, ya cowards!"

"Er, we're right here." Said Shade. The man then took notice of Shade and Iris.

"Oh, just two young'ns, I see." Said the man grumpily. "What do you two want?"

"We just wanted to know why no one's on the streets." Said Iris. "It seems like a place where there'd be a lot of that."

"Huh? What're you talking about? No one's out on the streets?" Said the ragged-clothed man. He then smiled. "Must be pirates landin' here and they must've seen their ship or somethin'. Heh, the people on this island...there rich folk, but if any sign of trouble comes along, they all get scared in hide. 'Scept me of course. By the way, the name's Foghat." He said, introducing himself.

"My name's Shade, and this person is Iris." Said Shade. "We're the Renegade Pirates!"

"Oh, so you guys are the pirates." Said Foghat, though he didn't really sound surprised at it. "Just what brings you all here to Rebirth Island?"

"Well, we where looking to find some new crew members," Said Shade. "And maybe some money too..." He added, remembering the crew's complete and total lack of money.

"Heh, forget it." Said Foghat. "Everyone on this island's too rich and fancy for that kinda pirate stuff. You won't find any crew mates here."

"Well, what about you? You're not rich." Suggested Shade.

"Ha! What would I be, the ship's drunk?" Scoffed Foghat.

"True. We already have that one..." Reasoned Shade. Iris gave him a cold stare.

"But," Added Foghat. "If you want some money, that would be easy to obtain..."

"Really? How?!" Demanded Shade, who, while being desperate of some crew members, also felt desperate for some cash.

Foghat gave him a look, as if Shade had said something completely idiotic. "Come on guy," He said sternly. "You do what you're supposed to do."

"I see." Said Iris. "We steal some."

"W-w-what?!" Said Shade in some shock. He wasn't expecting that answer. "Steal some? I'm not sure about that one..."

"Foghat's right, it is what we do." Said Iris.

"That girl's got more brains than you do, boy." Said Foghat. "But whatever you guys do, don't go stealing from the Carter Family's house."

"The Carter Family?" Inquired Shade. "Where is their house?"

"It's the biggest, and most expensive. You'll know it when you see it." Said Foghat. "Probably has the most money too. But don't go stealin' from it."

"Why not?" Questioned Iris.

"I've heard tales." Said Foghat grimly. "Horrible, unspeakable tales of what happens to people who try to steal from there. I don't feel like sayin' em, but..." Foghat looked like he might throw up trying to think about it. "Anyway, the truth of it is, no one who's ever tried to rob that place has ever been seen since. Just don't go snoopin' around there. There are plenty of other good places."

"Whatever. Don't steal from the Carter Family house. Everything else is game. Got it." Said Iris.

"Hey, we're not actually going to do this, are we..." Said Shade.

"Don't be a coward." Retorted Iris.

***

"This house looks fairly reasonable." Said Iris, as they were standing in front of a rather large looking, expensive house, though more expensive looking ones could be seen from afar. "It's not the biggest one, so we know it's not the Carter place that homeless guy warned us about." She walked up to the door and knocked on it.

"Are we really going to do this straight up?" Asked Shade. "Shouldn't we at least try to be sneaky or something? What if he's prepared?"

"Shade," Said Iris cooly. "You've never seen me fight, have you?"

The door opened. The man who lived in the house was indeed prepared, he had brought a shotgun to the door with him. However, before he could even hold the shotgun properly, he felt a blade being held to his neck. Iris had pulled out her sword faster then anyone could have imagined and was holding it against his throat.

"You see this sword?" Said Iris in a bittersweet voice. "It's name is 'Misora'. It could cut through your neck like butter. Of course, that would result in quite a mess, so I think it would be best if you dropped that mean old gun and give us...oh, 500,000 beli will do."

Both Shade and the man looked at Iris in amazement. Iris turned her head to Shade. "I'm pretty good when I'm sober." She said.

The man at the door was shaking. "S-sure, m-money's all you want right? I-I've got some right here, as a matter of fact..." He said, trembling at every word he spoke as he reached out to get something. Suddenly an alarm started to blare from the man's house.

"W-what's that noise?" Asked a nervous Shade.

Suddenly a grin appeared on the man's face. "Ha! You dumb pirates, I've just alerted the marines of your location, using my built-in marine home security!" He started to grin more, as if he was insane. "Go ahead, kill me if you want to, but you'll definitely be punished by justice! Hahahaha...." His conversation was interrupted by a swift punch in the face from Shade.

"Sorry, he was startin' to creep me out a little." Explained Shade. "Anyways, we gotta get out of here before Marines swarm this place."

"Right." Agreed Iris. "But first..."

"What?"

"We should take some of this guy's money."

"Oh yeah."

***

Meanwhile, back at the marine base, a marine burst into the captains' office. "Captain Gei!" He said, saluting. "We've just received a signal from a marine security system. Someone must've set it off! The Pirates have begun to attack!"

Gei sat in his chair, brooding the news he had just been informed. "I see," He said solemnly. "I was hoping they wouldn't cause any trouble, but..." He then stood up from out of his chair. "It looks like we'll have to fight them after all." He then spoke suddenly. "Alert everyone! We'll all head out towards them and take them out in one swoop!"

The marine saluted. "Yes sir!" He proclaimed, as he ran off.

Gei sat back in his seat for a moment, and then let out a deep sigh. "Let's hope everything goes smoothly." He said. "I really don't want to involve _them_..." He added, saying it with utter disgust. "The Carter Family..."

***

The alarm bell began sounding throughout the marine base. Many soldiers began looking around in some confusement.

"W-what's going on?" Asked one.

"There must be pirates about!" Said another, taking charge of the situation. "Come on, we have to move out! Let's go, go, go!"

The marines suddenly starting scrambling about, looking for swords, guns, anything they preferred to use in battle. The mass hysteria quickly faded however, as soon the marines were sorting their way out of the building.

All except one.

He looked like a normal marine, as he was wearing the same uniform as everyone else. However, red hair was sticking out of his marine cap.

A marine soldier took note of him. "Hey, aren't you coming, Kai?"

The marine named Kai turned around. "Yeah, I'll be out in a sec. I got something I need to finish up."

The marine soldier shrugged. "Whatever, man." He said, leaving Kai by himself.

Soon no one was left in the building. The place that only a few moments ago was packed by marines was now empty. Except, for one. Kai looked around, to make sure the coast was clear, and then began running to the captains room.

"Che, finally some pirates showed up." He said. "I thought I was never gonna get a chance for this place to be empty. Ever since I infiltrated this base I've been stuck here for over a month!" As he ran to the captains room, he began taking off his marine outfit, revealing his true clothing. He was wearing a black jacket over a dark red shirt with black pants and shoes. On the back of his jacket was a symbol of two dragons, one red and one yellow, eating each other, forming a circle. A pendant could also be seen around his neck.

He finally arrived at the captain's room. He quickly rushed behind the desk and pulled open all of the drawers, all revealing a bunch of files.

"Amazing, they're all unlocked." He said, trying to control his excitement over this matter. He began eagerly skimming through all the files that were contained in the drawers. Suddenly, he stopped at one, and carefully pulled it out.

"Found it! After a year of searching!" He declared to himself, as he opened the file and began looking at the contents.

"Th...this is..."

***

A/N: And there you have it! Suspenseful ending, huh? What did you think of it? Was it good? Please review and tell me what you thought about this chapter, It'll make future ones better. Also, if you have any OCs you'd like to share, by all means submit them and I'll see what I can do.


	4. The Carter Family II

A/N: Hey guys, me again, bringing you another chapter. Also, expect updates to slow down just a bit over the next 3 weeks or so, I've got a lot on my hands during that time. Hopefully it won't bog down my writing too much. But for now, enjoy this installment!

***

"Well, what do we do now?" Asked Iris, running alongside Shade. Both of them were carrying a bag of money in one of there hands.

"Well, that Foghat guy said no one here would be interested as their rich and all, and we have some money on us, and there are a horde of marines heading towards us." Said Shade. "So we best just head towards the ship and get outta here." Suddenly he heard something and stopped running. This caused Iris to stop as well.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Asked Iris.

"Shit," muttered Shade. "We're trapped."

"Huh? What do you mean-" Started Iris, but the question she was going to ask was answered before she even said it. Suddenly, hundreds of marines came charging in, surrounding them from all size, preventing any sorts of escape. "Oh, that's what you mean." She said.

The marines finished closing in on Shade and Iris, guns pointed at them from all directions.

"Alright, hands up!" Said one of the marines boldly, pointing his rifle at Shade and Iris. "There's no escape, and you're vastly outnumbered. It'd be best for you to just give up."

"Seems we're in a quite a pinch." Said Iris offhandedly. She turned towards Shade."So what do we do now, captain?"

"Well, I was really hoping we wouldn't have to, but..." Said Shade, preparing his fists. "Looks like we'll have to fight our way out!" He began lunging towards some marines, reaching them faster than they could prepare their rifles. "KAN KAN RUSH!" He declared firing his fists in rapid succession at the marines. The attack knocked back several marines.

"Sh-shit, looks like they're not going quietly!" Said a marine from behind Shade, who quickly prepared his rifle and fired at Shade. However Shade quickly turned around and, to everyone's disbelief, caught the bullet with his bare hand.

"H-he caught it in midair!" Exclaimed the marine, taking a few timid steps back, as if a giant grizzly bear was approaching him. "How did he do that?!"

"Heh, with my super sight and reflexes the Kan Kan Fruit gives me, bullets are nothing but small steel pebbles!" Grinned Shade.

"A Devil Fruit user..." cursed one marine under his breath.

"Don't let it get to your heads!" Called out another. "Just keep attacking. They're still heavily outnumbered!" This encouragement was enough for the marines to resume their attack.

Iris looked at some oncoming marines. "Hey now, where's me in all this?" She asked, saying it like she had just realized a battle had commenced. She quickly pulled out her sword. "Let me in on some fun!" She rushed towards some marines, swiftly pulling out her sword and slashing away at some marines. "HIBARI-RYU: MIDAREGAMI!" She said, knocking away several marines in one fierce strike.

"These pirates, they're not ordinary people..." Said a marine witnessing the onslaught. "We need to alert Captain Gei somehow..."

"What about alerting me?" Boomed a voice from behind the marine. This outburst caused both marines and the two pirates to stop battling and look at the direction of the voice.

"C-captain Gei sir!" Exclaimed the marine, saluting as a sign of respect. "What are you doing here? We thought you were with another group."

"I heard the commotion over here, and I thought I'd check it out." He suddenly broke out into a grin. "What's wrong you guys? It's only two people!" He said, almost jokingly.

"S-sir, this is no laughing matter! These pirates are stronger than we'd thought they be..." Began the marine.

"That so?" Said Gei, interrupting him. "Looks like I'll just have to take care of things then." He moved his way through the marines, walking up to Shade and Iris. "So you guys are the pirates? Which one of you is Captain?"He asked.

Shade took a step towards him. "I am." He said boldly. "My name is James D. Shade, captain of the Renegade Pirates."

"Nice to meet you, Shade." Said Gei, as if talking casually. "My name is Gei, captain of the marine base stationed here on Rebirth Island." He suddenly threw off his marine uniform, revealing another uniform underneath: He was wearing khaki pants and a dark green undershirt, but most striking was the two rows of kunais that were strapped across his shirt in an "X" shape. "I hope you'll make a good fight for me."

Shade was a bit surprised by this. "K-kunai?" He said, slightly alarmed by the sight of them. Nevertheless, he was prepared.

"KUNAI NOBUDOU!" Declared Gei as he grabbed a kunai with each hand from each row and fired them at Shade. Shade's eyes widened for a split second before he narrowly dodged the attack.

_This guy...he's serious!_ Thought Shade. _He threw those things at me faster than bullets! I can't catch them like I can with bullets. The best I can do is just dodge!_

"So you can dodge my Kunai Nobudou, you clearly are no ordinary pirate, indeed." Remarked Gei. He then took two more kunai off the racks attached to him, and this time lunged towards Shade himself, kunai in each hand. He raised his hands and tried to bring his kunai down on Shade, but Shade grabbed each of his wrists with his hands and prevented the attack, though Gei was still pushing towards him.

_Not to mention, this guy's hella strong,_ Shade continued his thoughts. _I can barely hold on to him..._ Shade suddenly gave way to Gei's arms, as Gei slammed the kunais at Shade. But again, Shade swiftly evaded the attack, causing Gei stab the kunais into the ground.

"You're a tricky one, you." Said Gei. "What's wrong? You can easily take care of my men, but it looks like I got you on the ropes right now!"

_He's right. I haven't sustained any injuries yet, but neither has he. And he's gaining an advantage over me. If I don't do something soon..._

"Come on Shade! What're you doing? Hurry this up!" Called out Iris suddenly with a bored expression on her face, as if this battle was an unentertaining movie.

"Shut up you!" Yelled Shade back. _I gotta focus here! What do I have to do to beat this guy._ Suddenly, he noticed Gei's kunais that he'd thrown at him, still lying on the ground. _Wait a minute, maybe_...

"Here I come again!" Yelled Gei as he charged towards Shade once more, two more kunais in his hand.

Shade grinned. _Alright, here's my chance! _In one swift motion, he dashed towards the kunai that were on the ground, picked one up, and chucked it at the charging Gei. The accuracy was dead-on. The kunai hit Gei in the lower chest area, causing him to stop his attack and fall to the ground, clutching the are where he'd been hit. This caused a chorus of gasps from the marines.

"C-captain Gei was defeated!" Exclaimed one. Another marine quickly rushed to Gei to tend his wounds.

"Sir, are you alright?!" Gasped the marine to him, still astounded by the sight he was seeing.

"S-shit, that bastard got me." Muttered the weakened captain. The marine reach for the kunai to pull it out, but Gei quickly knocked his hand out of the way. "Don't pull it out, that'll only make the bleeding worse!" He yelled, but then suddenly coughed up some blood. "Looks like there's only one choice now."

The marine's widened eyes got wider. "Sir, you don't mean..."

"Yeah," Said Gei. "Call the Carter family..."

"Nice job, Captain," Said Iris. "Do we high-tail it out of here now?"

"Of course!" Said Shade, as he and Iris began to run away from the scene.

"Sir, they're getting away!" Said the marine.

"Tell the other marines to hold them off, at least until they show up..." Said Gei hoarsely. "Then go contact the Carter Family..."

The marine saluted. "Yes, sir!" He said, before running off.

***

"Well, looks like we got out of that situation alright." Said Shade.

"I'll say. And we still have this money too." Said Iris.

Suddenly, more marines started appearing all around them again. This time, there seemed be even more marines than last time.

"Crap," Remarked Shade, sounding frustrated. "Looks like we've still got some work to do

***

Meanwhile, the marine Gei had assigned to the Carter House had arrived at his destination. It truly was a spectacle of a house, looking to be four stories tall and having over 30 rooms on each floor. The outside was painted a red color, and there where fountains place among the pathway to the house. Gei had knocked on the door and was greeted by face he never liked to see.

"Yes? What can Lollipop-chan do for you?" Asked the voice. It belonged to a girl of about 16, though the outfit she was wearing made her look younger. She wore a black leather dress with black leather boots than went up above her knees, with black gloves that went beyond her elbow. She also had black makeup around her eyes, and black hair that was styled into two long ponytails. Overall, a lot of black.

The marine felt very awkward looking at this face. "Well, you see, there were some pirates who landed on this island and..."

"Ohh! You want us to help out!" The girl clapped her hands in excitement. "Just wait a sec, I'll ask my siblings if we can!" She left from the front door and dashed up the stairs, walking by a numerous amount of rooms before she came to the one she wanted.

"Amili-neechan!" Said the girl as she opened up the door. "There's a marine at the door and..."

"Lollipop!" Screamed another female voice. The girl in this room was dressed in the exact same fashion as the other girl, except she looked to be about 4 years older. Also instead of black hair, she had short, blonde hair that was styled into two short ponytails. "What did I say about knocking? It's rude not to knock!"

"S-sorry." Said the girl named Lollipop. "But you see, there's a marine at the door and..."

"Hmph! What do I care about that! That decision lies with Oniisan!"

Lollipop looked like a switch just went on in her head. "Right!" She said, running off to a different part of the house.

***

"Oniisan!" Called out Lollipop as she entered another room. "Gatomani-niisan!"

The man in this room was in stark contrast to the two other girls. He looked to be about 28 years old, and was wearing a black suit with a red tie and white shirt underneath. His black hair was slicked back, making it look very oily. He was sitting down in a chair.

"What, Lollipop?" He asked in an annoyed voice.

"Marines showed up and they want us to help!" Said Lollipop.

"Do they?" Said Gatomani, his voice still annoyed. "What weaklings." He stood up from his chair. "Alright, let's go then."

"Yay!" Said Lollipop with a happy look on her face, clapping her hands again.

***

Meanwhile, Kai was running across Rebirth Island, having ditched the marine base. He seemed to be in a great hurry.

_Looks like what I'm after_ He thought. _Lies within the Carter Family!_

_***_

And there you have it! What did you think? Please review! *Dashes off*


	5. The Carter Family III

A/N: And here's the next chapter, where the fighting REALLY begins. Also, I'd like to give a shout out to my reviewers, you guys have been real great, getting reviews from you guys always makes me want to review more. So to my adoring fans, here's the next chapter. Enjoy. Once again, I don't own One Piece.

***

"Shit, these guys never stop comin'!" Said Shade has he continued to punch a few more marines while swiftly dodging their attacks. He was right; more and more marines seemed to be coming at him and Iris.

"I'll say." Agreed Iris as she slashed a few more marines away with her sword. "Why can't they just call it a day?"

"C'mon, we have to hold them here!" Commanded one marine to the others. "Hold them here, at least until the Carter Family shows up!" The marines roared in response to this and continued to fight against Shade and Iris.

"And just what is this 'Carter Family' stuff they're all talking about?" Said Shade, the subject puzzling him.

"I don't know," Said Iris. "But let's hope we don't have to find out. I wanna get off this place and resume the journey."

"Ditto." Said Shade as they continued to fight through the barricade of marines that they were being confronted with.

Suddenly a gigantic BOOM resounded throughout the entire island, causing the battle to momentarily subside.

"What was that noise?" Asked Iris, getting a bad feeling.

Shade looked in the air and saw something heading down on them. "Shit," He cursed loudly. "They're using CANNONS!" The cannonball was quickly heading down, straight for them. Marines quickly scrambled away and ducked for cover. Shade grabbed Iris and slung her over his back as they qucikly evacuated the area as well.

"Hey, this is no way to treat a woman!" Said Iris.

"Now's not the time for that!" Said Shade angrily as he tried to get away in time. The cannonball then hit the surface, causing a mass explosion. Though it missed Shade and Iris, the force of the explosion knocked them back, causing them to fall to the ground. They both awkwardly got up, brushing off themselves.

"Looks like we got out of that one alright." Said Shade. "But seriously, CANNONS?! There's got to be some marine code forbidding that kind of unfairness!"

"We're pirates, and they're marines. It's only natural." Commented Iris.

"I didn't ask for your opnion." Said Shade sternly.

***

"So, did that marine tell you what they looked like, Lollipop?" Asked Amili. She, along with the other members of The Carter Family were walking along the streets of Rebirth Island, trying to find the location of the battle.

Lollipop pressed the umbrella she was carrying against her chin. "Hmmm," She said, sounding like a child. "He said the captain has blond hair, and there was a woman with him in knight's armor..."

"Sounds more like a circus to me." Said Gatomani, not really interested in the matter. Suddenly he stopped walking. "Someone's coming." He announced.

He was right. From the corner of a nearby building, a figure appeared, though still staying in the shadow of the building, making his features unclear.

"Who are you?" Asked Gatomani.

"The name's Kai." Was the response, as Kai walked out of the shadow, revealing his black jacketed, red-haired figure. "You guys are the Carter Family, right? I've got some business with you all."

"Well, whatever it is, it'll have to wait." Said Gatomani. "We're kinda doin' something here, we'll get back to you later."

"Sorry, but I don't feel like waiting." Said Kai. "And I've heard all about you guys. You never listen to anyone but yourselves. So I'm here on the presumption I'd have to beat the crap out of you all anyway."

Gatomani's eyes narrowed. "Are you asking for a fight?"

"Damn straight." Said Kai.

"Lollipop, Amili, you guys go ahead." Said Gatomani. "This guy's pissing me off a little. I'll take care of him." He clenched his fists.

"Sure, just make it quick then." Said Amili as she and Lollipop began to leave the scene.

"Cocky, are we?" Said Kai, who looked ready to fight. "So you're confident you can beat me all by yourself, then?"

"You're the one who's cocky." Responded Gatomani, unfazed by Kai's comments. He suddenly charged towards Kai at an amazing speed, and began delivering a series of kick's at Kai. Kai, instead of trying to dodge, took all the attacks head on, even letting his face take a few beatings.

Gatomani stopped kicking. "You're not even trying." He said. "You must have something in store then."

Kai grinned. "Nice observation." He said, wiping the blood of his face and smearing it on his hands. "AKASENTOU!" He yelled charging with his fist, hitting Gatomani square in the face. It made a profound impact, causing Gatomani to fly backwards and hit the ground with a big *THUD*.

Gatomani slowly stood up, taking note of his now bloodied cheek. "That wasn't a normal punch...just what are you doing."

"I ate the Chi Chi Fruit." Said Kai. "I'm a blood human. I can control my own blood. What I did was took the blood I got from your attack and wiped it on my fists, then hardened it to make it hard as steel. I'm surprised your still standing."

"I see, a Devil Fruit." Said Gatomani. "Well then, if that's the case, only fair if I use mine too."

Kai was slightly startled by this announcement. "You also have one too?" He asked.

"...Yeah." Said Gatomani. He suddenly then dashed up to Kai, and before Kai could react, but his hand on his chest. "GACHIN GACHIN: ICHIJIKAN!" He yelled. Kai was suddenly knocked back, falling on the ground, just as Gatomani had.

"W-what was that?" Said Kai as he got back up. He felt the area of his chest of where he was attacked, but instead of feeling the soft texture of his clothes, he felt something hard and smooth. He quickly looked to see what he was feeling, and saw that a small clock had been attached to his body. He tried to take it off. It wouldn't budge. "W-what is this?" He asked.

"I ate the Gachin Gachin Fruit." Said Gatomani. "Anything I touch when using this power becomes a time bomb. That includes people."

"A...a time bomb?" Said Kai. The thought of him exploding filled him up with fear. "W-what's the time limit?"

"Whatever I want it to be. The lowest it can go is one minute, and I usually just do that, but..." Said Gatomani. "You kinda piss me off, so I gave you an hour to suffer a bit."

Kai was still in shock about this news. Did he really have only a half hour left to live? He woudln't have it. He began trying to pull the clock off, but to no avail. It was as if it became a part of his body.

"It's no use." Said Gatomani. "The only way that can get off is if I decide to lift it off. Which I won't be doing." He then delivered a swift kick to the distracted Kai, hitting him right in the face, knocking him right back down. "Now if you don't mind, I have to catch up with my siblings." With that, he began to walk away leaving the injured Kai for dead.

***

_S-shit..._ Thought Kai to himself as he lied on the ground, clenching this fist. He had been lying there for about 5 minutes, according to the clock , giving him only 55 minutes left to live._ I can't die yet...There's still things I need to do before that!_ He began to stand up. _I have to beat that guy!_ He thought. _Otherwise I'll be exploding in less than an hour! But how do I beat him?_ Without thinking of the answer, he dashed off to where Gatomani had gone.

***

Meanwhile, Shade and Iris where on the run from the marines again.

"If there was one good thing about those cannons, it's that it got us away from those marines." Said Shade. "Now we just have to find the Bat Out of Hell and we're out of here."

"You might want to hold that thought." Said Iris, looking in front of them. "Looks like we have some more company."

Shade looked ahead as well. There he saw the sight of two girls, dressed in black.

"Are you guys the pirates those marines were talking about?" Said one. "They look like 'em, huh, Amili?"

"Looks like it, Lollipop." Said Amili. "They don't look like much to me..."

"Are these guys the Carter Family?" Asked Shade.

"Looks like a bunch of creeps." Mentioned Iris, not approving of their outfits.

"Hey! You will not call us, members of the Carter Family, as 'creeps'!" Said Amili, insulted by the statement.

"Yeah!" Said Lollipop in a taunting voice as she made a face at Shade and Iris.

Shade was starting to get ticked off by these two as well. "Do we really have to fight?" He groaned. "I really don't want to fight two brats."

Both Amili and Lollipop took offense to this one. "Hmph, just you wait until Gatomani shows up." Said Amili. "Then the fun will _really _begin."

"Yeah! With Gatomani-niisan on our side, we'll never lose!" Said Lollipop, continuing to make faces at Shade and Iris.

"Well, if you excuse us, we have no intention of waiting for him." Said Iris. "If you really want to stop us, you'll have to do it yourselves."

"Hpmh, no problem!" Retorted Amili. She reached into her long, blond hair, and from it, produced two shurkiens. Lollipop also held out her umbrella, holding it like a sword. "Who needs Gatomani anyway, we are more than enough to take care of both of..."

"What about me?" Called out a voice from behind.

Amili slowly turned her head. "G-Gatomani!" She said, seeing her older brother standing behind her. "I-it was nothing, I was just telling these lowlife pirates here how we don't even need you..."

"Did you take care of that other guy who tried to fight you?" Asked Lollipop curiously.

"Yeah." Said Gatomani "I gave him an hour, just so he could squirm a bit." He looked at Shade and Iris. "So these are the pirates?"

"Yep, this is them alright." Answered Amili.

Gatomani cracked his fists again, just as he had done when beginning his fight against Kai. "Then let's do this and get it over with."

Shade, who had already grown a distaste for this man in front of him, looked Gatomani right in the eyes. Iris also pulled out her sword, also ready to fight.

"Bring it." Said Shade.

***

And there you have it for this chapter, stay tuned for the next chapter, and expect to see more action sequences with the Renegade Pirates and the Carter Family! And, as always, don't forget to review and tell me how you felt about this chapter or feel free to submit your own character if one feels like it. Until then, see you next time!


	6. The Carter Family IV

A/N: Hey everyone, me again. Here's another chapter, where some real action begins in the story! Please read and enjoy!

***

"Bring it." Beckoned Shade again towards Gatomani and the rest of the Carter Family. His usually carefree and easygoing nature had been replaced by a heavy, serious attitude towards the battle.

Gatomani flashed a brief grin, before resuming his serious expression. "Very well. I shall fight you. I like you, a lot more than I did that other guy. Because of that, I won't use my Devil Fruit power against you when fighting."

"A Devil Fruit power?" Said Shade in surprise. "Interesting. But you said you won't use it...are you saying you're holding back your power."

"Not really." Said Gatomani. "I just don't like to use it that much is all. It doesn't make battles very fun. I'd rather not use it, except if my opponent pisses me off a lot."

"How admirable." Said Shade. "I wouldn't use my Devil Fruit power too, except it's always on, so I can't."

"So you have a Devil Fruit too," Said Gatomani, not surprised at all by the statement. "Explains why the marines had such a tough time handling you." He punched his fists together, ready to fight. "Now then, before we begin, I have just one request."

"Oh? And just what would that be?" Inquired Shade.

Gatomani turned his head towards Iris, Amili, and Lollipop. "I want a battle between just you and me. If we all fight in one spot, the battle would get too chaotic. I'd suggest you and me move to a different location for our fight."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Demanded Lollipop. "Are you saying I'm not strong enough or something?!"

"Shut up." Said Gatomani. "You and Amili can take care of the other pirate for all I care. Just leave this guy to me."

Iris raised an eyebrow to this statement. "Two against one?" She asked. "That doesn't sound very fair to me." She drew her sword from it's holster. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to work harder then."

"By the way, I never caught your name." Said Gatomani to Shade. "What is it?"

"Shade." Answered Shade, still focused on Gatomani. "James D. Shade."

"Follow me, Shade." Said Gatomani, as he began to lead Shade away to a separate location.

***

"This place should do." Said Gatomani as he and Shade arrived at a clearing on the island. It was an open field, with nothing but grass covering the area. "No distractions or anything. A great place to fight."

"I'll say." Said Shade, raising his fists. "This place looks perfect for me to run wild!"

Gatomani took a fighting pose that resembled a fighting pose of some sort of martial art. "Then, let us begin."

***

"Now then, which one of you should I begin with?" Asked Iris, pointing her sword at Amili and Lollipop.

"Oo! Me! Me! Me!" Said Lollipop ecstatically. "Onee-chan, can I fight first? Please, please?" She began jumping excitedly.

"Hmph, do whatever you want." Said Amili. "Just make sure you win. It'll mean less work for me to do."

"Yay!" Said Lollipop, jumping in a giddy manner. She then walked closer towards Iris pointing her umbrella towards her.

"_That's_ what you're fighting with?" Remarked Iris. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that could do much against Misora." She finished, referencing her sword.

"My Umbrella-chan can do a lot more than just be a sword." Replied Lollipop, grinning mischievously, as if she knew a secret that no one else knew.

"We'll see about that." Said Iris.

***

Meanwhile, Kai was running throughout the streets of Rebirth Island, trying to find the location of Gatomani, who he'd lost sight of. He glanced at the clock attached to his chest, counting down the moments until his doom. Thirty-five minutes remained, according to the clock.

_Shit,_ He thought. _I need to find that Gatomani bastard! Where did he run off too? If I don't find him soon..._His thoughts went quiet, almost not even wanting to think what came next. _It'll be over for me!_

***

"KAN KAN RUSH!" Bellowed Shade as he began hitting Gatomani with a flurry of fists. However, this attack was to no avail, as Gatomani blocked each oncoming fist with his open palm.

"Is that all you have?" Asked Gatomani. "You won't get very far with that."

"Too bad, I got a lot more in store than just that!" Said Shade. Suddenly, in a very swift motion, jumped in the air, and came down with his hands on the ground, in a handstand-type position. "SAKADACHI KICK!" Said Shade as he spread his legs, one of them hitting Gatomani hard in the face.

Gatomani rubbed his face, feeling the wound. "Shit...that's twice today I've taken a hit to the face...that sort of pisses me off." He then swiftly kicked the still hand standing Shade right in the stomach, causing him to take a hard fall. "That was a nice attack, but you leave yourself wide open. Do you realize that?" He asked Shade.

Shade got up, clutching his stomach, still grinning through the pain. "Yeah," Said, wincing slightly. "But usually the person goes down after getting kicked in the face like that."

"I see." Said Gatomani. "But stuff like that won't work against me. I'll exploit any sort of opening you have."

"In that case, I'll just have to take it up a notch!" Proclaimed Shade as they resumed battle.

***

Iris' sword and Lollipop's umbrella clashed together, both sides refusing to let up to the other's.

"Not bad, for using an umbrella." Said Iris with a cheeky grin.

"I told you, Umbrella-chan can do more than just this!" Said Lollipop shrilly. She then opened up the umbrella, blinding Iris and causing her to take an awkward stumble. Lollipop then leaped in the air and charged her umbrella down on Iris, like a sword. "UMBRELLA-CHAN NO STRIKE!" She declared as she aimed her umbrella at Iris' head. Iris quickly gathered herself and was able to hold the sword to the umbrella, blocking the attack.

"Oh, not bad." Said Lollipop. "But I still have a lot to show you!" She began jabbing her umbrella in several swift movements at Iris, who tried to keep up with blocking, but a few jabs slipped through her defense and hit her.

_This girl's attacks don't do much damage, but they're hard to dodge._ Thought Iris. _If I can find a way to attack her, I can end this quickly, but she's got some pretty good defense. I've gotta figure out some way to defeat her..._With those thoughts in mind, she resumed fighting with her opponent.

***

"You're certainly a tough opponent." Remarked Shade. The fight had been going on for some time now, both sides had sustained various injuries.

"You're not that bad either." Said Gatomani, though he didn't sound like he was complimenting Shade. "But I still haven't shown you what I'm fully capable of." He retained his martial art-like stance and then fired a swift chop at Shade. "CARTER KENPO: WAKI BUNRETSU!" The chop hit Shade directly in the right side of his body, causing him fall backwards to the left.

"Shit...I think you cracked a rib there..." He said, feeling the area. "You're pretty fast...even with my Kan Kan Fruit giving me heightened senses, it's still hard to dodge your attacks."

"I do not solely rely on my Devil Fruit alone." Said Gatomani. "It is custom of the head male of the Carter Family to learn the family's secret martial art, Carter Kenpo. Mastering it gives you amazing speed and strength. I mastered it when I was only 21, but if you ask me, there's always room for improvement, so I continue training to this day."

"Really?" Said Shade, getting up again and brushing himself off. "Explains why your so fast. But I still got a few tricks up my sleeve as well."

"Really? Well, you better start showing them." Said Gatomani.

Shade took another fighting stance. "Very well!" He dashed towards Gatomani, and flung his fist at an amazing speed. "CHOUJIN PUNCH!" He yelled, hitting Gatomani in the face at an amazing force. The attack knocked Gatomani far back, and he was slow to get up. Gatomani felt his bloodied nose. It was broken, and for the first time during the battle, he showed an expression of shock.

"W-what was that?" He asked. "That was no human punch..."

Shade just grinned again. "I told ya, I got some tricks up my sleeve!"

***

Amili yawned. "How much longer are you two going to keep fighting?" She asked lazily, watching the fight between Iris and Lollipop. "Someone win the fight so we can move on!"

"Fights, they take time." Commented Iris, though her eyes were still focused on Lollipop. "I'm trying to beat my opponent here, so just be patient. I'll get to you eventually."

Lollipop did not find that amusing. "And just who said you're gonna beat me?" She said in an almost whiny voice. She began jabbing at Iris again with her umbrella, but this time Iris was much more prepared for the attack, blocking mostly every jab this time.

"You're attacks are too straightforward. I can easily read them now." Said Iris. She swung her sword at Lollipop, who blocked the attack. "But you still have a good defense. I need to find an opening..."

Amili yawned again. "This fight is boring." She began to lie down and look at the clouds, finding them more interesting then the battle. However, from the corner of her eye, she saw someone approaching them. "Huh? Who's that?" She wondered aloud. She got up and turned around, to get a closer look at the figure as he approached nearer. "Hey, it's that guy from before, that Gatomani beat! What was his name again?"

The figure was close enough to hear the last part of that sentence. "It's Kai!" He said, as he drew even nearer. "Finally, I found them all..." He looked around the area, but only saw Amili, and the battle between Iris and Lollipop. "Where's Gatomani?" He demanded.

"Oh, he said he wanted to fight the captain of these pirates alone, so they left to a different location. I don't know where they went."

Kai cursed to himself for his bad luck, and looked at the clock attached to him. Twenty minutes. "Shit...well, if you don't mind, I'll be coming through here..."

"Hold on." Said Amili, a grin appearing on her face. "I'm not letting you pass that easily."

Kai got a frustrated look on his face. "What? Why the hell not?!" He said.

"Because," Said Amili. "I'm bored, and fighting you would be a lot funner than just watching these two go at it." She said turning her head at Iris and Lollipop.

"Listen, I'm not gonna waste my time fighting you." Said Kai. "All I care about is Gatomani!" He began to run by Amili to resume his search for Gatomani, but suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his back. He turned to see a shuriken lodged in his back.

"Like that?" Said Amili, holding more shurikens in her hand. "There's more where that came from. Just keep running away an I'll throw more into your back."

Kai groaned as he turned to face Amili. "Fine," He said. "I'll just have to beat you quick, then I can continue to look for Gatomani!"

***

A/N: And there you have it! Next chapter will be the conclusion of this little arc, so while you wait for the conclusion, please review and tell me how you think of the story!


	7. The Carter Family V

A/N: Hey everyone, me again, and as promised, here is the final chapter of the Carter Family arc. Please enjoy it.

***

Gatomani rubbed his cheek again, not wincing at the pain he felt from it. His mind was more focused on other things, namely on what he had just been with that. "I've never been hit quite like that before." He said. He felt slight pain in his mouth when he spoke. He assumed the hit must've fractured a jaw. "Just what was that?"

"Well, since you're so curious, I'll tell you." Said Shade, still defending himself in case of a sudden attack. "Have you ever heard of 'Haki'?"

Gatomani thought about the matter for a moment. "I've heard rumors." He answered.

"Truthfully, I don't know much about it myself." Said Shade. "But it's some sorta force that makes other people get really weak around you. And it makes me more powerful. It's kinda hard to explain really..."

"Last I heard, only really great, powerful people can use it." Said Gatomani. "There was Whitebeard, Red-Haired Shanks, Monkey D. Luffy...people that are doing who-knows-what in the New World right now. Why would someone like you be loitering around in the West Blue for?"

"Well, first off I need a Pirate Crew." Said Shade. "And second..." He said, clutching his arm. "Whenever I use Haki, after I attack with it, it has this side effect. My arm feels like it's gonna fall off or somethin'..."

Gatomani looked at Shade. "Considering how much that attack hurt me, I'm guessing it must be quite some pain you're enduring."

Shade grinned. "You're not that bad either. I've had some people faint when I use Haki against them. You're not even breaking a sweat."

"I have been feeling something strange recently." Said Gatomani. "It must be that then." He regained his fighting stance. "Well then, if you ask me, this fight is not going to last much longer. Let's finish this up, shall we?"

Shade continued to grin. "Let's."

***

Kai tried his best to hold back a groan. Here he was, with the clock that was ticking down the moments of his life telling him he had eighteen minutes left to live, and he was stuck fighting the sister of the only man that could take it off. At the beginning of the day he'd considered himself lucky to finally find the information he had been searching for for over year, and it was all coming to this.

"Now then, let us begin, shall we?" Said Amili as she threw two more shurikens at Kai. Kai didn't move. The two shurikens grazed each side of his chest, creating two more cuts. Thought Kai had taken a lot of intentional hits before in his life, he still winced at this attack. Pain will always hurt, he figured.

"Hmmm? What's a matter? Don't tell me that's too slow for you!" Scoffed Amili. She always loved the thought of finding herself superior over others. "Here, I'll even slow it down for you!" She threw two more shurikens at Kai, both going slightly slower than before. Again, Kai took the attacks head on.

Amili gave another giggle. "Ha! You couldn't even dodge that?" She said. "Sorry, I'd go slower if I could, but I can't! That just shows how pathetic you are!"

Kai closed his eyes and took a silent, deep breath, to prevent his anger from snapping. _Just bear with it..._He thought. _Won't be much longer now..._

"Take that, that and that!" Said Amili with a crazed smile, chucking more and more shurikens at Kai. Thoguh she was bored watching others fight, Amili had a crazed obsession with fighting herself. The shurikens hit Kai again, causing bursts of blood to stream from his skin. "I can't believe Gatomani wanted to waste his time fighting you!" She said in a shrill laugh.

Kai, now completely bloodied, looked at the ground. "Alright," He said weakly, kneeling to the ground. "This'll do." He dipped his hands into the pool of blood that had surrounded him. "CHIDAGEKI!" He yelled with the last of his strength. Red spikes shot out of the pool of blood and fired in rapid succession towards Amili.

"W-wha-" Said Amili, as a look of sudden fear and horror flashed across her face in the instant before she was struck by the massive spikes. As each spike hit, it reverted back to it's original liquid form, hitting Amili with a giant force before splashing all over her. After several dead-on attacks, Amili, now coated with red liquid from head to toe, was knocked out from the impact of the attacks.

"A-Amili-neesan!" Screamed Lollipop, who was watching the scene. A look of horror on her face appeared as well, but it soon became a look of anger towards Kai. "Y-you!" She said angrily. "You beat up my sister! I can't allow that! You're all hurt now, I'll I have to do is..." Her voice on the matter was interrupted by quick strike in the back from Iris that sent her also down in the ground, writhing in pain. "HEY!" Lollipop yelled even louder, somehow able to despite her painful condition. "That was dirty! That's cheating! You can't do that."

"You're the one who looked away and was distracted. I just exploited that opening." Said Iris, sheathing her sword. She looked towards Kai. "So what's your deal with these guys?" She asked him.

"Look, there isn't much time to explain, but that Gatomani guy holds some information that I need, that and..." He said pointing to the clock. "If I don't get him to take this off of me, I'll explode in..." He unwillingly glanced at the timer. "13 Minutes. If your captain is fighting him, he might be in trouble of this happening to him. We better find both of them fast."

"Well, I have no idea where they went off to." Said Iris. "By the way, are you alright?" She asked, noticing Kai's bloodied figure.

Kai nodded. "It's fine, my Chi Chi Fruit, in addition to controlling my blood, can also close up my wounds. I'll be fine. More importantly, we've got to find where those two went off to." Iris nodded, silently agreeing with this statement as the two began looking for the two people.

***

Gatomani and Shade continued to stare at one another. Neither had made a move yet. Both of them, weak and tired, were each looking for away to finish the other in the next attack. Neither were finding a good spot to hit or weakness to exploit.

"Well, aren't you going to do something?" Said Gatomani, daring Shade to attack him. Shade, however, did not bite at this comment.

"What about you? You're the one who likes to take the offensive, but now you're hesitant." Said Shade. "What's wrong?"

Gatomani put his open hand against his head and sighed. "Look, we're both thinking the same thing, so why don't we just both admit it: We're each trying to finish the other off in the next attack. Am I wrong?"

"Nope, you hit the nail on the head there." Said Shade. He got an idea. "Should we just do one of those 'We'll both attack at the same time, and who ever is stronger will win' type of things?"

Gatomani pondered the matter for a second, and then shrugged. "I guess, if you want to. But if that's the case, I have one condition."

"Oh? What's that?" Questioned Shade.

"I would like to waive my agreement of 'not using my Devil Fruit power'." Explained Gatomani. "I feel if I do that, we can both truly go all out. Is that a deal."

Shade smirked. "Fine." He spoke. "But I'm still gonna win."

Suddenly, for a moment, everything went dead silent. Nothing seemed to move, there seemed to be no wind, no crashing of ocean waves, no birds calling out...everything seemed to be still. Then, the two fighters dashed at each other.

"CHOUJIN HAKI," Yelled Shade. "CHOU KAN KAN RUSH!"

"GACHIN GACHIN," Said Gatomani. "IPPUN!"

The two fighters clashed, each jumping in the air to reach the other. Shade let loose a flurry of punches and began raining down punches on Gatomani, who countered with a single thrust of his hand, attempting to attach a bomb to Shade. The impact from both attacks sent both fighters flying, crashing each to the ground.

Gatomani, in immense pain and bleeding all over, attempted to try to get up. He found that he couldn't. _I can't move._ He thought. _Did I...lose?_

Shade slowly got up, his body bruised and battered, blood all over his fists, both from injuring Gatomani and the reaction of his usage of Haki. He was breathing heavily. "W...what's this?" He panted. On his now bloodstained white undershirt, there was a small clock, rapidly counting down.

Gatomani slowly was able to move his head up and look at the scene. He found the energy to speak. "That...is...my...ability." He spoke weakly. "You....have...one...minute...to...live..."

Shade closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Did I lose then?" He asked, seeming to not take the fact he was about to die too hard.

"No..." Whispered Gatomani. "You...got me...I am defeated....I will let you live...you're too...good a fight to die this way...." He weakly moved his hand, as if he was casting a spell. The clock vanished from Shade's chest.

"Wait a minute!" Called out a voice, interrupting the moment. The two fighters turned to see Kai and Iris running towards them. _Found 'em!_ Thought Kai. _And with 5 minutes to spare!_ Kai ran up to the defeated Gatomani that was lying on the ground. "Alright you," Threatened Kai. "Get this damn bomb off me! If you don't, I'll just kill you, that'll take this off I bet!"

"Take it easy..." Said the defeated Gatomani, recovering his strength to speak. He also waved his hand at Kai, causing the clock on him to vanish as well. "...There. Happy?"

"Just one more thing." Said Kai. From his pocket he pulled out the documents he had found at the marine base. "Can you tell me about these?"

Gatomani stared at the documents. "What are they?" He said, not recognizing them.

"You," Said Kai. "These documents tell me that you know the location of my sister!" He opened the documents and read them aloud. "...Village attacked by unknown intruder, burned down completely, treasure stolen, one hostage taken. Location of hostage shared with Gatomani of the Carter Family..." He read. "That one hostage is my sister. Tell me where she is."

"Oh yeah...I remember that." Said Gatomani. "But I'm not sure it will help you that much."

"Huh? Why not?" Said Kai. "Any sort of clue is good, just tell me!"

"Look at the date, idiot." Said Gatomani, still showing an disliking for Kai. "That document was recorded seven years ago. Do you really think she's in the exact same place as she was before?"

Kai was suddenly hit with a wave of emotion, feeling strong embarrassment, anger, and disappointment. He ripped up the document. "Shit...all that searching for nothing." He said, trying to hide his downcast expression. "It's only a dead end after all. I really thought I had something...how am I ever gonna find her now?" He realized he had said these thoughts allowed. It took all of his might to not blush from those statements.

Suddenly Shade had a burst of inspiration. "Hey, if you're looking for someone, why don't you join our crew?" He offered. "We'll be going all sorts of places, if you join us, you could look where we are for your sister. How about it?"

Kai suddenly perked up at this. It was an offer he simply could not pass up. "Really?" He asked. He didn't take any time to wait for an answer. "Hell yeah I'll join!"

***

"So Kai, got any special skills fit for a pirate ship?" Asked Shade. It had been a day since the events of Rebirth Island had taken place. The _Bat Out of Hell_ was sailing smoothly across the waves as Shade, Iris, and now Kai had gathered around on the deck.

"What do you mean 'Special Skills'?" Asked Kai.

"You know, like cooking, navigation..." Listed Shade. He felt the pain in his arms. "Or doctoring...my arms hurt like hell..."

"Well," Said Kai, trying to think of an answer to Shade's question. "In order to find my sister, I've infiltrated countless marine bases as a marine, and even a few pirate crews...I guess you could say I'm a spy, sort of speak." He finally answered.

Shade couldn't help but groan. "Crap...there better be a doctor on the next island...or a chef...I'm hungry..."

"Do you even know how to get to the next island?" Said Iris. "None of us can navigate, so none of us have any idea how to get anywhere...we need a navigator too."

"We'll just go where the ship takes us." Said Shade, waving off the matter. Apparently he was not concerned with navigation.

"Well, this is a cursed ship." Said Iris, trying to convince her point to Shade. "It might lead us somewhere we don't want to be..."

Shade seemed to agree with this statement. "True..." He said. "But I still don't think it matters that much."

"Cursed ship?" Said a slightly confused Kai.

"Oh, that's right, you weren't with us." Said Shade. "We got this ship for free, but the guy who gave it to us said everyone who's bought this ship before has met some kinda tragedy..." The rest of his sentence was interrupted by a loud THUD from the right side of the boat.

"Huh? What was that?" Spoke Kai. He rushed to the side of the boat where the noise had come from, and looked down. "Hey," He said suddenly after seeing what it was. "There's a person down here!" The statement made everyone rush to the side of the boat to see if what Kai had said was right. Indeed, they all small a person, a girl about age 17 was seemingly asleep in a small boat. She was tall and skinny, with short black hair and darkened skin, and wearing a turquoise sweatshirt with tan colored jeans.

"It's a girl." Pointed out Iris, though everyone could clearly see that. "Is she asleep?"

"She could be passed out, we should bring her on board." Said Kai, making the quick decision. "We got any rope or something?"

***

A few minutes later the girl was on board, still asleep or passed out. They had all gathered around her, looking at her as if she was some type of foreign creature, neither of them not really knowing what to do now.

Shade decided to act first. "Hey, wake up!" He said, kneeling down to the girl and poking her on the head. The girl twitched a bit, then slowly opened her eyes.

"W-where am I?" She asked in a tired voice, as she began to stretch.

"You're on my ship." Said Shade. "We saw you driftin around in that boat, and we decided to pick. Are you lost or something?"

The girl looked at Shade, stared at him for a few moments, then answered. "You found me and picked me up?" She asked. Shade nodded. "Thank you." She said politely, as she got up from her lying position.

"You haven't answered my question." Said Shade, getting impatient with the girl. "Why were you out on a boat? Where do you live?"

The girl continued to ignore Shade's questions. "Nice ship." She said, examining the boat. "You guys pirates?" She asked abruptly.

"Yeah, we're the Renegade Pirates, and I'm the captain, James D. Shade." Said Shade. "Now will you tell us about where...."

"So you are pirates. That's great to hear." Said the girl, again interrupting Shade. "Truth be told, Shade-san, I ran away from home, and I have nowhere to go. By the way, my name's Riana." She said, introducing herself. "Also, I'm great at navigation."

"Soooo....?" Said Shade, not connecting the dots on what she was trying to say.

"Soooo..." Said Riana with a smile, mimicking Shade. "As token of my gratitude for helping me out, I'll join your crew! How about it?"

***

A/N: And there you have it! What did you think? Not one, but TWO(?) new crewmates! For some reason this chapter is a lot longer than previous ones, but I really enjoyed writing it, perhaps I'll make them more like this in the future. Also, I think for the next few chapters I think I'll focus more on finding a few crew members for the Renegade pirates before delving into any other big multichapter arc like this. So send in any characters if you have any, or just review and tell me how you feel about my story. Until next time!


	8. Paramore Island, Meeting the Doctor

A/N: Hey everyone, here's my next chapter! This chapter introduces a new OC, Ligoro "Lilli" Goron, sent in by Cocoasit. Hope you all enjoy it!

***

"Huh? What?" Said Shade, taken aback by the statement he had just heard. A girl he had just met, who in reality was actually only slightly a year younger then him but was acting a lot younger, was suddenly asking him to join his ship as a navigator. He was sure he had missed something.

"C'mon, please?" Said Riana, trying to sound innocent. "I'm a little girl with nowhere to go. Don't tell me you're going to throw me overboard?" She added, giving her best impersonation of puppy dog eyes.

Shade rubbed his temples a bit, trying to control his anger. "Are you really serious about joining?" He said. "Living la pirate's life isn't all fun and games, you know. There'll be a lotta battles, storms, running from marines, you can die easily if you join a pirate crew."

"It'll be fine, It'll be fine!" Said Riana, not affected by any of the dangers Shade was warning her of. "That's what makes being a pirate so fun, right?"

Shade sighed again. He couldn't argue with that logic...it was the reason he himself was a pirate. But this girl was acting far too childish to be doing anything like this. "Look, you won't be joining us." He said. "Where's your island? We'll bring you back to your parents, then..."

Riana shook her head vigorously. "No, no!" She protested the statement heavily. "I can't go back home! I've already run away and told them I'm never coming back! I can't go home after saying that, can I? Plus, can any of you guys navigate?"

"Well, how good can you navigate?" Asked Kai.

Riana gave a sly smile. "How good can I navigate?" She asked, as if the matter should never be questioned. She stuck her right pointer finger in her hand for a moment, before quickly pulling it out. "Wind speed is currently at 4 knots, this ship is heading in the eastern direction, no storms picking up in the nearby area, this ship will land on Paramore Island in about half an hour..." She continued to smile more as the others looked a bit dumbstruck by this information. "I could go on forever. Now then, can I join?"

"That was pretty good..." Said Iris, voicing her opinion on the matter after observing the girl's deduction. "And we do need a navigator..."

"Iris! Don't side with this girl!" Snapped Shade. "Look, I understand you're a good navigator on this ship, but I still don't really want you to join. You'll just get in the way if we run into any enemies or anything..."

Kai suddenly pulled Shade aside. "Shade," He whispered into his ear. "I don't think anything you say is going to affect this girl. She is really serious about joining and does have good navigation skills. How about this for an idea?" He muttered as he began to elaborate his plan he had just devised. "We'll keep her around for awhile, and if after we run into some more enemies, she'll probably realize what she's actually facing and leave. And if she proves to actually stand and fight, we'll have ourselves a navigator. How about it?"

Shade mulled the idea for awhile, then made his decision. "Alright, you can join." He told Riana. "Just remember that this pirate can get pretty ugly. Just don't be a distraction."

"Alright!" Said Riana, pumping her fist, looking excited to join the ship.

***

A half hour later, just as Riana had predicted, the _Bat Out of Hell_ arrived at the next island, Paramore Island. It was substantially larger then most of the islands the crew had visited up to this point, with a large, central city, bursting around with markets and many people walked across the streets.

"This place is packed!" Said Shade as he observed the large crowds of people surrounding the crew as they walked throughout the streets of the city. "Alright, with this many people, there's gotta be a chef or doctor we can add to our crew. Maybe even both!"

"I haven't been to tavern in awhile." Said Iris, eying some nearby taverns. "I haven't had a drink in almost two days...thats' far too long..." Kai gave her a disturbed glance, which Iris failed to notice.

"Anyway, for now, let's focus finding a doctor." Said Shade. "I'm still not completely healed from that last fight...

"A doctor? No prob! I'll find one!" Chipped in Riana. She suddenly began sprinting off in a random direction, trying to hopefully find a doctor for the ship.

"Hey, come back here!" Said Shade as he began to chase after the girl. Did she think she was just going to find one out of the blue? "I knew it was a bad idea to let her on..." He said. While lost in these thoughts, Shade failed to notice a person was running right towards of him. He hit the person head on, causing the person to fall to the ground. Any of this person's real features where concealed by the large trenchcoat and hat he was wearing, the collision with Shade knocked off his hat, revealing his sandy blond hair, with freckles around his green eyes.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" He said to Shade. He quickly picked up his hat and put. "Shit, I gotta get out of here fast...before _he_ shows up..."

"Huh? Who?" Inquired Shade, unable to keep his nose out of this man's business.

The man looked back at him for a moment, then leaned close to him. "You're not a bounty hunter, are you?" He whispered to him.

"No, in fact I'm the opposite. I'm a pirate." Answered Shade.

"Alright, good." Said the man. "So you can understand the predicament I'm in. You see, I too am a pirate, and there's currently a bounty hunter chasing after me because of this." From his trench coat, he produced a piece of paper and gave it to Shade. Shade looked at the paper, it had a picture of the man in front of him on it, with the following text placed underneath it:

**Wanted**

**Dead or Alive**

**Goron Ligoro**

**2,000,000 Beli**

"Oh, so you're wanted, I see?" Said Shade as he examined the paper. "So your name is Ligoro, huh?"

"Sssh! Don't say that out loud!" Said Ligoro as he put a finger to his mouth. "Do you know what it's like being wanted? Even if it's just a lowly two million like me, there's bounty hunters after you wherever you go. Right now, there's one after me...Oh shit! There he is!" He exclaimed, as he and Shade spotted a man walking around nearby. It was a very tall brown-haired man, almost 7 feet in height, wearing a large black cloak that covered his whole body, with the exception of his face. A katana could be seen attached to his waist. He was glancing around the streets, as if he was looking for something.

"Good, he hasn't noticed me yet." Said Ligoro, as he scrambled to put his hat on his head to conceal his face. "That man's name is Benataru. He's known as a skilled swordsman on this island, and for always towering over people."

"That's the guy?" Said Shade, looking at the man with a look of disinterest. "Heh, doesn't look like much to me."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly a fighter." Said Ligoro. "The only reason I have this bounty in the first place is because I used to be a doctor on my dad's ship..."

"Wait, you're a doctor?" Interrupted Shade. An idea was formulating his head. Maybe he could get something out of this venture after all.

"Yeah, what of it?" Said Ligoro.

Shade grinned. "Well, I've got a deal for you, Ligoro."

"Don't call me that." Said Ligoro. "In addition to bounty hunters, there are members of my dad's pirate crew who are out to get me as well. I don't want to take the risk of anyone hearing my real name. Just call me 'Lilli'. I know it sounds lame, but it works for me."

"Well then, I've got a deal for you, Lilli." Said Shade. "I'll take care of that Benataru guy who's after you. But in exchange, you have to join my crew as my doctor. Deal?"

"Sure, why not?" Said Ligoro. He figured he had nothing to lose. He was constantly on the run anyways from his dad's crew, being a member of another would sure protect him a lot better than if he was by himself. Plus, he was used to life as a pirate.

Shade pounded his fists together. "Alright then!" He said, walking towards Benataru. "Hey you! You're called Benataru, right?"

The man named Benataru turned around to face Shade. "I am." He said in a voice as intimidating as his appearance, putting one hand on his katana. "Just who are you?"

"My name is James D. Shade. Captain of the Renegade Pirates. Nice to meet you." Said Shade.

"I don't recognize that name, or your face." Said Benataru, not giving much care for the man that stood in front of him. "You must not have a bounty then. If you don't have a bounty, I'm not interested in you."

"Oh, but you _are_ interested in this man, am I right?" Said Shade, grabbing Ligoro by the arm and pulling him towards him.

"Hey, what're you doing..." Said Ligoro, before Shade yanked off the hat he was wearing, exposing his face to Benataru.

Benataru gave a frightening grin. "I am." He said again, pulling out his sword. "I would be very grateful if you gave him to me."

"You have to beat me first." Said Shade, getting ready to fight.

"You think you can beat my sword with just your fists?" Said Benataru, who's voice remained serious but a hint of anger could be heard in it. He slowly pulled out his sword. "I think you're underestimating me, boy."

"You're the one who's underestimating someone." Said Shade.

This caused something in Benataru to snap. "You..." He said, his anger rising. "DIE!" He swiftly swung his sword straight down on Shade in an extremely fast motion. However, he was horrified to see that Shade had caught the sword with his own hands, clapping his hands together to catch the sword in between, not sustaining a single injury.

"Your sword is as slow as a falling piece of paper to me." Remarked Shade, grinning at seeing the look of horror on Benataru's face.

"H-how did you..." Benataru struggled to find his once intimidating voice.

"KAN KAN RUSH!" Shade began pummeling Benataru with an array of fists, each one making direct contact, as Benataru was beat into submission. After only a few moments, Benataru lied on the ground, defeated and knocked out.

Ligoro couldn't help but be both amazed and frightened by what he had witnessed. _This guy..._ He thought. _He just took down that bounty hunter like it was nothing. Is he some sort of monster?_

Shade clutched his arm. "Crap, it still hurts when I do that. Hey, Lilli!" He called out. "You're my doctor now, tend to my wounds!"

Ligoro, still a bit hesitant, walked over to Shade and felt his arm. He was amazed it what he felt. "What is this?" He said. "Where you trying to lift a building or something before you came here? Your muscle feels like it's going to rip if you keep fighting with it. You might not wanna fight for sometime"

"Really," Said Shade, not very concerned about it. "How long should I go?"

"At least a day." Said Ligoro. "If I bandage it up it'll be fine."

"That's good to hear then." Said Shade. Suddenly he saw someone running towards them.

"Shade!" The person cried out. It was Riana. "What's going on? Who's this guy?" She began asking questions in a rapid manner.

"Hmph, while you dashed off from us to try to find a doctor, I chased after you, then I actually found one. Anyway, don't go running off like that!" Said Shade. "It's really troublesome for me to chase after you."

"Why?" Asked Riana. "I found you a doctor, didn't I?"

"Huh?" Said Shade. "What're you talking about? This was just chance!" He sighed. "Whatever, let's just try to meet back up with Iris and Kai." With that, he, Riana, and the newly acquired Ligoro began to walk off, to try and find Iris and Kai.

_There's no way she could've known I'd find this guy if I chased after her. _Thought Shade, eyeing Riana. _I really hope she decides to leave soon..._

_***_

A/N: And there you have it! Credit goes to Cocoasit for the character Lilli. That brings our total up to 4 crew members! What did you all think about this chapter? Please review and tell me!


	9. Paramore Island, Meeting the Chef

A/N: Hey, everyone, here's the next chapter! This introduces an OC made by me, Zucchero (Egads! A guy writing an OC story making his own OCs? Blasphemy!) Anyways, as the last chapter focuse all on Shade and Riana mostly, this one focuses on Kai and Iris. Enjoy!

***

"I wonder where Shade and Riana went off too." Wondered Kai aloud. After Shade had ran off to try and bring back Riana, He and Iris had tried to run after them, but had lost them. After an hour of searching or so, they had given up, and decided to take a break from the matter, and at Iris's urging, had visited a tavern to get a few drinks.

"Who cares?" Mumbled Iris, the effects of alcohol already taking effect. "They'll show up eventually." She banged her hand on the table to get the bartenders attention. "Hey! Can I get another one over here?" She demanded.

"Stop ordering all those drinks!" Said Kai as the bartender gave Iris another drink, her fourth. "Do you have money to pay for it all?"

"Relax," Assured Iris in a very carefree voice. "Me and Shade stole some money when we were on Rebirth Island. We've got plenty of money!" She then began to down her newly presented drink.

"We should save that for important things, not blow it all on this." Argued Kai, who was still only midway through his first. "Like food."

"Ha! What good is food if we don't have a chef?" Said Iris rather loudly, causing everyone in the bar to take notice. Kai felt slightly embarrassed.

"Look," He said in a harsh whisper to Iris, trying to get his point across. "The reason we're on this island right now is to try and find some crew members. We have no idea what Shade and Riana are doing right now, so why don't we be helpful and try to find a chef or doctor, instead of just wasting all of our time here?"

"Where we gonna find one of those?" Asked Iris in a woozy voice.

The bartender, who had been taking note of their conversation, as he had found it humorous so far, suddenly leaned closer to them. "If you two are looking for a chef, there's a restaurant nearby that I find makes delicious food. I'm sure there would be a chef who's willing to join you."

"Really?" Said Kai. He smiled at the bartender, and then paid for their drinks. "Thanks! Let's go Iris!" He said, grabbing Iris by the hand.

"But I'm not done yet..." Protested Iris weakly, before being dragged away from her stool and drinks by Kai.

***

"So this is the place, huh?" Said Kai, examining the building that he and Iris stood in front of. It was packed in between two other buildings, but they could see from inside the glass windows at the front it was quite a large, luxurious, restaurant. The sign above the entranceway to the restaurant, a large, white sign that said "Neyo's" in black, cursive letters further fortified the restaurant's fanciness.

"Looks a little fancy." Said Iris, taking note of the elaborate features. "It probably pays really well too. Are you sure there's anyone who'd want to be a pirate?"

"We'll just ask the manager to see if there's someone." Said Kai. "Plus, this is just one place, we can just look around another place if no one here is interested." With that, the two proceeded to head into the restaurant. There where almost immediately greeted by a waiter, who was wearing very formal attire, with a black, buttoned vest over a white dress shirt with black pants.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" He asked in a polite manner.

"Yeah! We need to see the manager!" Iris blurted out suddenly, still dizzy from the effects of the alcohol she had consumed.

Kai slapped his face. He forgot he was walking around with a drunk person. "Sorry about her," He said trying to do his best to apologize. "She says things she shouldn't sometimes..."

"If you want, I can arrange for you to to meet the manager." Said the waiter, actually listening to Iris' request. "I doesn't have anything major scheduled for today...when would you like to make an appointment?"

Kai, a bit stunned, began to answer. "How soon can we meet him?" He asked.

"If you wish, I can take you to him right now." Responded the waiter. "Follow me."

***

The three arrived at a section of the restaurant that was a long hall of doors, as the waiter had stopped at one door in particular, a sign on the door said "Manager" in the same, cursive black text the restaurant's name was in. The waiter knocked on the door.

"What is it?" Called out a soft, yet demanding voice from inside the office.

"Pardon me, Mr. Neyo sir," Said the waiter. "But I have to people with me who say they wish to speak to you."

There was a brief silence. "Let them in." Said the voice from inside finally.

The waiter courteously opened the door for Iris and Kai, as the two walked into the office, to be greeted by a tall man who was dressed in the exact same manner as the waiter they had just met, however he was also wearing a black bowler hat over his short brown hair. The two parties briefly stared at each other in silence, before it was broken up by the sound of the door closing.

The man took off his bowler hat and bowed politely. "Good day to you both. My name is Neyo, the owner and manager of this restaurant. Please, have a seat." He said, motioning Kai and Iris towards two seats as he put his hat back on. "Now, what is it you two wanted?"

"We were wondering if you have any spare chefs who would like to leave here and join us." Said Kai rather quickly, trying to say something before Iris could blurt out anything again.

Neyo stroked his chin. "You guys...are pirates, right?"

Kai gave a silent gulp. He'd been planning to keep that part a secret. "...How did you know?" He asked, his voice coming out as a whisper.

"You dress like them." Answered Neyo. "The way a person dresses tells a lot about themselves. That's way I try to look my best everyday. Anyways, I won't call the marines on you or anything. I can also tell you're not that bad of people." Kai gave a silent sigh of relief at that statement. "Now, to answer your question, I do have someone who would be a perfect fit."

Kai perked up suddenly. "Really? You do?" He asked, not able to believe his luck.

"Yes, but you won't be able to make him leave here so easily. He's very insistent on working here" Said Neyo. "But if you can, I give you permission to take him on your crew. I would've fired him already if it wasn't for the fact he's so damn good at cooking...Here, let me bring you to him." He finished, as he began to lead Kai and Iris towards the kitchen.

***

"Zucchero! Is Zucchero in here?" Called out Neyo as he flung open the doors to the kitchen, with Iris and Kai following close behind him. The kitchen, was a large, busy place, with people in chef's uniforms scrambling about. "Ah, there he is!" Remarked Neyo, spotting the person he wanted throughout the commotion. He led Iris and Kai towards the person he wanted. The person's features were blocked out by the fact he was turned around, working on making some sort of dish. Neyo tapped him lightly on the shoulder to get his attention.

The man named Zucchero turned around, revealing his face. He looked to be older than Iris or Kai, appearing to be about thirty-five years old. He sported a black beard across his face, and his short, black, curly hair could be seen under his chef's hat. "Yes boss?" He asked Neyo hesitantly, as if he thought he was going to be yelled at or something.

"These two people here would like to have a word with you." Said Neyo, presenting him with Iris and Kai. "Now then, I'll be off." He ended, turning away to leave.

"Hey, wait! Shouldn't you help us?" Called out Kai.

"I'll let you guys work it out." Was the response as Neyo shortly after disappeared out of sight.

Zucchero looked at Kai and Iris. "Well, just what would you want to talk about with me?" He asked them with a look of uncertainty on his face, as he had never seen these people before.

"We're pirates." Said Iris, going straight to the point. "And we wanna have you join us to be our chef!"

"Though that's not the way I was going to put it," Said Kai, still regretting ever bringing Iris in with him. "In essence, that's kind of what we want you to do."

"Ah, so your pirates, eh?" Said Zucchero with a look of amusement on his face. "You know, you are not the first pirates I have met."

"Really?" Asked Kai. If that was the case, he assumed, then maybe they had a winner on their hands.

"Yes. You see, I come from the Grand Line." Said Zucchero. "Many pirates came to the restaurant I worked at when I lived there, so I've met my fair share. Truthfully, I have always wondered what life like a pirate would be like." He said.

"So you'll join us then?" Said Kai, happy about how smoothly this was going.

"No, I cannot." Said Zucchero, denying Kai firmly. "For there is something I must do first, and the only way I can do it is through my cooking."

"Oh? What is it?" Asked Iris, still in a drawl.

"You see, I am looking for someone right now. She is...that special someone to me, you know?" He asked, sounding slightly serious for the first time in the conversation. "Her and I lived together in happiness on the Grand Line, but one day she vanished. I have no idea why. Was she kidnapped? Did she not love me anymore? Was she killed? My mind would never cease to stop thinking about her. It affected my social life too, I stopped talking to my friends and was fired from the restaurant that I worked at. That's when I decided something: I would become a world famous chef, with all the fame and fortune that came with it. Cooking is my talent, there is no other way for me to become famous. Then, with this newfound fame and fortune, perhaps I could find my true love again...so that is why I cannot join."

Kai couldn't be helped but to be slightly touched by this story, he too had been separated from someone he was close too. "But," He said, his emotion towards the subject being slightly shown. "That should just make you want to join us more?"

"Oh? What do you mean?" Asked Zucchero.

"Look, I understand your situation completely. I too am on a similar quest." Said Kai. "That's why I am on this crew right now. So I can travel the whole world, and maybe someday find my sister. So what do you think? If you stay here, I'd say your chances of making it big aren't as big as if you join our crew."

Zucchero mused this thought. He'd never even considered the option before, but what this man had told him had made perfect sense. True, the risk would be far greater, but higher the risk, the higher the reward.

Zucchero let off a small grin. "Alright then," He said. "I'll join you!"

***

Meanwhile, on another section of Paramore Island, something else was occuring. The area was largely deserted, with no houses or buildings in sight of the clearing. All that was there was a man, sitting on a log. He was completely coated in a dark blue armor from head to toe, giving him a menacing appearance, as he also stood at about eight feet tall. Beside him, a large claymore sword rested, not as big as the man, but it was still very large, at about as long as a small person.

"N-Night Ranger-sama!" A voice in the distance called out to him. The knight turned to see someone limping towards him.

"What do you want, Benataru?" Asked the knight in a deep, frightening voice. "I thought you are chasing after some lowly bounties. Don't tell me one of them beat you up?"

Benataru neared closer to the knight known as Night Ranger, with the knight towering over his tall form. "T-that wasn't it..." He coughed, still clutching a wound that Shade had given him. "I was chasing after one, when suddenly another man challenged me. I didn't recognize him, but he's hella strong..." He coughed up some more blood. "You're the only one I feel can beat him...Night Ranger-sama..."

Night Ranger suddenly stood up, grabbing his sword and lifting it onto his back with ease. "Really?" He asked, sounding entertained by the thought. "I have not had a good fight in awhile...let's see if I can change that..." Though no one could see it, the man known as Night Ranger was smiling.

***

A/N: And there you have it! What did you think? Personally, I found this chapter a little hard...hence why Zucchero agreed to join so easily. Anyways, expect the reunion of the crew, and the plot to shift back to fighting enemies. So until then, please review and tell me what you think! I'll be waiting for them!


	10. Paramore Island, Meeting Night Ranger

A/N: Hey everyone, it's me again. Haven't updated in a little while...doing a lot of other stuff right now...but luckily Christmas Break is coming up, so I'll be sure to get a few chapters in during that time. But for now, enjoy the newest chapter!

***

"Now then, where did Iris and Kai go off to?" Wondered Shade aloud. He, Riana, and the crew's new doctor, Goron 'Lilli' Ligoro, were walking along the streets of a town on the island of Paramore Island, trying to relocate their separated crew members. Shade also had a bandage wrapped tightly around his upper right arm on Ligoro's request, who had also advised him not to use it until the day was over.

"So, your name is Lilli?" Asked Riana to Ligoro. "That's a pretty weird name!"

"I told you, It's just a cover-up so people aren't always on my tail." Explained Ligoro. He turned towards Shade. "So, these two crew members that we're looking for? Maybe I can help to look for them."

"You can't miss them. One has spiky red hair and the other is a girl in a knight's outfit. They're impossible to miss." Said Shade, scanning the area for the two as he spoke. "Just keep your eyes peeled...this is a pretty big island."

"Roger!" Said Riana, who began cupping one of her hands over her eyes and began scanning the area. After a few seconds, she began jumping up and down. "I found them, I found them!" She said excitedly.

"Huh? Where?" Asked Shade, not really believing she had found them. He had been searching far longer than she had...how did she find them just like that.

"Over there!" Answered Riana, pointing her hand towards the spot she had found them. Sure enough, faintly in the distance, Iris, Kai, and Zucchero where conversing amongst another.

"So you really did find them..." Shade muttered. "But who's that other guy they're with?"

"Only one way to find out!" Said Ligoro as he began to run towards them.

"Hey! Don't go running ahead! Wait for me!" Called out Shade as he and Riana began running after him.

***

"So, you're from the Grand Line?" Asked Iris. "You must've seen some amazing things."

"Aye." Said Zucchero, walking alongside Iris and Kai. He had discarded his chef's uniform for a more casual one, wearing a plad designed shirt with dark blue jeans and cowboy boots. "There are pirates there that could conquer all of West Blue if they felt like it, though their true ambition lies with finding One Piece, of course. And the weather can change in an instant...if you're not prepared, it would be very dangerous..."

Kai looked ahead of them. "Hmmm, what's that?" He asked, noticing something coming at them at full speed. "Wait a minute...It's Shade!"

This caused Iris and Zucchero to look in the direction of where Kai was looking. They where greeted by the sight of Shade, Riana, and a man they did not recognize coming towards them.

"Finally, found you guys." Remarked Shade as he, as well as Riana and Ligoro came to a stop near them. He looked at Zucchero. "So who's this guy?" He asked, wanting to know just who this unknown man with them was.

"I'd ask you the same thing." Said Iris, looking at Ligoro.

"This guy's name is Ligoro, though for his won reasons he likes to be called 'Lilli'." Said Shade. "He's going to be our doctor. Now that I've told you that, will you tell me about this man here?" He finished, looking at Zucchero.

"My name is Zucchero." Zucchero took the liberty of introducing himself. "Your two crewmates here convinced me to be your chef. Pleased to meet you."

"Hey! Who said you could ask people to join us without my permission?" Shade said to Iris and Kai.

"It was his idea." Said Iris, pointing a finger at Kai, deciding to put all the blame on him. Kai gave her a look, but she paid no mind and continued talking. "Now then, how about we head back to the ship? We can take time to introduce each other once we're sailing again."

"Hmph, works for me." Said Shade with a shurg. The rest seemed to agree as they began to be led back to the ship. Unbeknown to them, they were all being silently watched by a certain two bounty hunters.

"That was him, Night Ranger-sama!" Said Benataru, who along with the ferocious looking Knight were hidden behind a corner, peering behind it to look at the crew. "The one with the shaved blond hair! He's the one who beat me!"

Night Ranger but a finger to the outside of his helmet as he pondered the man Benataru had showed him. "So his name is Shade, huh?" He said in his deep, intimidating voice. "He certainly seems like a worthy challenge...he would make a fine victim for my sword..."

"So, are we going to attack them or what?" Asked Benataru, eager to witness the man who had humiliated him be defeated.

"Patience, Benataru." Said Night Ranger. "It would cause a scene if we attacked them in the center of a busy city like this. Let's follow them until they reach their ship. It'll cause less distractions."

Benataru held back his anger. He had wanted to see Shade be humiliated in front of a large crowd, just as what had happened to him...but he swallowed his pride and silently nodded in agreement as the two continued to stalk the Renegade Pirate crew.

***

"You were in the Grand Line?" Asked Shade to Zucchero. Though the plan was for introductories to be saved until the ship, plenty of small talk was being made on their way there.

"Yep. Born and raised." Answered Zucchero casually. Shade had taken an interest of this fact and was asking him questions about it.

"That's good, we could use a leg up." Said Shade. "We'll know how to get through every obstacle or anything else that gets in our way."

"I doubt I could help with that." Said Zucchero. "I've only been in a very small section of it. And I only lived on one island before coming here, so I never had to deal with things such as bizarre weather or dangerous pirates or anything."

Ligoro decided to butt in. "You know, I've been to the Grand Line too."

Shade quickly shifted his attention to Lilli. "Really? You too?" He asked in surprise. He had not previously known this fact, he was even more glad that this man decided to join the crew.

"Yeah, I sailed it when I was a member of my dad's pirate crew..." Said Ligoro.

"Your dad is a pirate?" Asked Kai casually.

"Yeah. You might have heard of him. Captain Goron of the Goron Pirates..." Said Ligoro, seeing if the name would ring any bells to anyone.

"I've heard of that name." Said Zucchero, closing his eyes, trying to remember where he had heard it. "In the restaurant I worked at on the Grand Line, they had bounty posters of countless pirates, incase any came in so we knew who we were dealing with...I think his name might've been one of them."

"I see. Anyway, I sailed around the Grand Line with his crew, until I decided to jump ship." Finished Lilli.

"Why did you leave?" Asked Riana in her usual curious voice.

"Well you see, my dad is a really strict guy. A good pirate, but a bad father. He never let me leave the ship, even when he and his crew were out exploring islands. I got sick of it so I left, and he's had his men after me ever since. I don't hate him or anything, but I still like to have my freedom, you know?" Answered Ligoro.

Suddenly the group came to a halt. They had reached the ship. "Well, here we are." Said Shade, introducing the new crew members to the _Bat Out of Hell_. Lilli and Zucchero had to admire it's looks.

"Woah, cool ship." Was all Ligoro could say. Zucchero nodded his head in agreement, admiring the ship's structure.

"I'll say. Now then-" Said Shade, turning his head around. "Why don't you two come out of hiding now?"

A look of surprise appeared on the crew's face as they looked to where Shade was looking, a large looking green bush. It rustled a bit as the two bounty hunters emerged from it.

"How did you know you were following us?" Asked Night Ranger, appearing from behind it along with Benataru.

"I told you Night Ranger-sama, he is no ordinary man! He caught my swinging sword in midair as if it was falling paper!" Said Benataru, looking resentful to see Shade.

"Hey, you're that guy I beat earlier today." Said Shade, faintly recognizing Benataru. "Who's the knight guy? Your friend or something?"

"My name is Night Ranger. Benataru here told me about your strength." Night Ranger drew out his large sword. "I would like to see if what I heard is true."

Iris gazed in wonder at the sword the man was holding. "That's some sword he's got there." She remarked. "He makes me look like an amateur..."

"You like it? It's name is 'Sister Christian'." Said Night Ranger. "It is my pride and joy, and it enjoys strong opponents. Right now, it wants to test you out, Shade."

Shade grinned. He was ready for battle. He began advancing towards Night Ranger. "Bring it on, you-" Before he could go on, he was stopped in his path by Ligoro.

"Hey, don't you remember what I told you?" Said Ligoro. "If you fight right now, the muscles in your arms will tear up. You still have to wait a day!"

"It'll be fine, Lilli!" Protested Shade, trying to get by Ligoro. "If that's the case, I'll just use my legs!"

"You'd probably have to do some handstands to do that." Said Ligoro. "Supporting your entire body weight with your arms could cause an even more straining effect on your arms."

"Well then, what do you want me to do?" Asked Shade, getting slightly furious with the situation he was in.

This time, Zucchero butted in to the conversation. "Excuse me for interrupting, but if you want, I can defeat this guy for you."

"Really? You can fight?" Asked Shade. Zucchero didn't look like a guy who would be strong to him.

"I feel I match up pretty well against this guy." Responded Zucchero. "But I need you to serve as a distraction so I can get a good chance to get him.

Ligoro smiled. "Leave that to me!" He said. "Being a decoy is one of my specialties!"

"What are you all babbling about?!" Said Night Ranger as he pointed his sword at Shade. "Why don't you fight me, Shade?"

Ligoro turned to look at Night Ranger with a cocky grin. "Alright, Mr. Night Ranger, if you want to fight my captain, first you have to go through me!"

"Oh?" Said Night Ranger, changing the direction of where his sword was pointing from Shade to Lilli. "You're 'Goron Ligoro', am I not mistaken? If I recall, you where the one Benataru was after, until your captain beat him up. The fact that you needed him means you must not be very strong, but if you truly wish to die, I will not deny your request." He ran to Ligoro and swung his sword down to attack Ligoro, who swiftly evaded the attack.

"Haha, can't catch me!" Taunted Ligoro. _Heh, all this running from my dad's crew has given me incredible speed_ He thought to himself as Night Ranger again swung Sister Christian _This guy couldn't hit me with that big slow sword of his in a million years!_

"You..." Said Night Ranger, his frightening voice sounding annoyed. "You are using a coward's way of fighting, do you know that?!"

"If you don't like it, try and get me!" Said Ligoro, who dodged another one of Night Ranger's attacks.

Meanwhile, Zucchero watched the battle, waiting for the right moment. _Yes, that's it..._ He thought. _Lilli, you're doing a fantastic job. Just gotta wait for the right moment..._His eyes flashed _Now!_ He thought. He reached into one of his boots and from it, produced what looked to be a large knife. He chucked it towards Night Ranger, hitting his back as it penetrated through his armor.

Night Ranger felt the pain. "W-what is this?" He turned around to see the throwing knife lodged in his back.

"One of my specialty throwing knives." Stated through Zucchero. "All my years of handling various cutting knives have made me deadly with them. And, these throwing knives are made of a material that can penetrate even metal."

"You..." Said Night Ranger, his anger reaching a high point. "You're even more cowardly a fighter!" He shifted his attention away from Lilli and began charging towards Zucchero in fury. "DIE!" He yelled, ready to slash his sword across Zucchero's body.

Zucchero only sighed, as he pulled out another knife from his other boot and threw it right at Night Ranger's head. The knife penetrated through the helmet, striking him right in the head. This resulted in a cry of pain from Night Ranger as he fell to the ground, defeated. Zucchero walked over to the fallen Night Ranger and pulled his two knives out from the armor, resulting in another scream of pain from Night Ranger. "I'll have to clean these." He said, looking at the blood-covered knives.

Benataru could only stare in shock. "N-Night Ranger-sama was defeated...and not even by the captain..." The rest of his sentence he was unable to complete, as he began having trouble breathing due to the fear that had welled up in his body. He quickly turned around and began to flee the scene, leaving his defeated master and the pirates that had defeated him.

Shade looked at Lilli and Zucchero. "You know what?" He said to them. "I think I'm gonna like you two guys."

***

A/N: And there you have it! What did you all think? I kind of put this chapter in so that Lilli and Zucchero became truly a 'part' of Shade's crew by defeating Night Ranger...though I would've liked to see Shade fight him... Anyways, please review and tell me your thoughts, or feel free to submit any characters you have in mind!


	11. Born to Run I

A/N: Hello everyone, it's me, bringing you another chapter! This one begins the next arc in the story, please read and enjoy!

***

The sun was shining brightly throughout the clear blue sky as the _Bat Out of Hell_ cruised upon the blue sea underneath it. It had been a day or so since the events at Paramore Island, and Shade, Iris, Kai, Riana, and the two new members of the ship, Lilli and Zucchero, were sitting around on the ship's deck. Howver, on the ship's sails, instead if the usual sails that it had came with, there was now black sails that had the crew's Jolly Roger on it, a Crossbone Skull that had a blond-haired buzzcut, just like Shade's. The black sails had been purchased on Paramore Island and the design was painted by Shade ("I'm a pretty good artist." Shade had said.)

"Finally, I can take this off!" Said Shade, unwrapping the bandages on his right arm. "Now I'm ready to fight again!"

"Yeah, you're good to go." Said Ligoro. "Just be careful. I don't know what you did before to make your arm like that, but try to limit what you did."

Meanwhile, Kai was getting the newspaper from a nearby delivery bird. "Here you go." He said to it as he gave it a 100 Beli coin. The bird took it and began to fly off.

"Hey, who said you can spend our money like that?" Said Shade, noticing Kai's recent transaction.

"Calm down, it's just 100 Beli, not like it'll make a difference." Said Kai lazily. "Plus, I like to read the news. Is that a problem?" He began to open the newspaper and skim through it. However, on one page, he came to a stop. He looked at the page again, to make sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing. "Hey guys," He said, his eyes still glued to the paper. "You might want to check this out."

"Huh? What is it?" Said Shade as he dashed to see what Kai was looking at. A big smile appeared on his face as he saw what Kai was looking at. "All right!" He said, pumping his fist.

The others curious as to what they were all looking at, all clamored around the newspaper to see what all the commotion was about. They all looked to see that what Kai and Shade were looking at wasn't written in the newspaper itself, but something that had been packaged with the newspaper. It was a brown piece of paper, with a picture of Shade taking a fighting pose. Underneath it, the text read:

**Wanted**

**Dead or Alive**

**James D. Shade**

**28,000,000 Beli**

"A wanted poster?" Said Ligoro, examining the paper. He did some quick math in his head. _That's fourteen times my bounty...just what the hell was this guy doing before I met him?_

"One of the marines on Rebirth Island must've taken the photo when I was fighting them off." Said Shade, grabbing the paper and looking at the photo. "Whoever it was got an amazing shot..."

"A bounty poster? Cool! Let me see!" Said Riana, who tried to grab it from Shade's hand, however, Shade was able to quickly pull it away out of her reach.

"Hey! This is my bounty poster! Only I can hold it. Get your own!" Said Shade, who then found himself being comically whacked by Iris.

"Don't act like a kid." She said. She took the bounty poster out of her hands and looked at it. "You know, if you have a bounty on your head, it means we can't just go out walking around in public anymore, right?"

"I'll say." Said Ligoro. "My bounty is only 2 Million, and bounty hunters were after me like crazy. I can only imagine what would happen if it's 28 Million..."

"Relax, it'll be fine!" Said Shade in a carefree voice. "If anyone comes to challenge, I'll just defeat them!"

"Awfully calm about it, aren't we?" Said Zucchero, giving him a sly look.

"Yeah, it's no use worrying about this kind of stuff." Said Shade. "When we reach the next island, I'm sure no one will bother us."

"I don't know about that." Said Riana suddenly. "The next island we're heading to is 'Born to Run Island'."

"'Born to Run'?" Asked Shade. He had never heard of the island, though something told him he should have.

"You've never heard of Born to Run Island?" Asked Riana, sounding a bit shocked at the statement. "It's the last island in the West Blue before reaching Reverse Mountain, which leads to the Grand Line."

"Really?" Said Shade. A look of confidence and eagerness spread across his face. "Then we're almost there! We'll reach the Grand Line in no time!" He said.

"I don't know about that." Said Iris. "If it really is the last island before reaching reverse mountain, there probably is a lot of pirates running around the place. And if that's the case, there are probably a bunch of strong marines to keep order around the place."

"Looks like getting back to the Grand Line won't be so easy..." Muttered Zucchero to himself. However, Shade heard him with his enhanced hearing and took it to mean this towards everyone.

"Don't worry!" He said. "If I'm going to become the Pirate King, this is my first step to reaching that goal! So we can't fail!"

Iris looked at Shade and smiled. For some reason, she felt what he was saying is right. "Whatever you say, Captain." She said to him.

***

Within a few minutes, Born to Run Island had come into view. The whole place looked like a city floating on water, though in reality it was all built on one patch of land. In the distance of the island, the crew could faintly make up a large mountain shaped piece of land.

"There's Reverse Mountain!" Said Shade, pointing at the mountain in the distance. "We really are that close to the Grand Line!"

"Alright then, let's just grab some more supplies that we need on this island, then get out of here." Said Lilli. "I don't want to be caught in any big marine-pirate battles, hopefully we can make a quick stop and get out of here."

The others nodded in agreement as the ship began to dock on a port near the outskirts of the island. As the ship began to dock, the crew noticed the ship that they were docked next to. It was quite a large ship, painted a pinkish-reddish color. However, the most striking thing about the ship was that, like their own ship, it sported a Jolly Roger. Decorated on the sails was the traditional skull with two crossbones, however the eyes of the skull were heart-shaped.

"Is that a pirate ship too?" Said Shade, looking at the ship, somewhat unimpressed. "Whoever's the captain clearly has no taste at all..."

"Don't mind it for now." Said Iris. "Like Lilli said, we're just here to get some supplies, it'd be best not to get in any fights with other pirates for now."

"Che, whatever." Grunted Shade as the crew began to exit their ship to explore the island.

***

Meanwhile, on another part of Born to Run Island, stood the 'Born to Run Marine Base'. This marine base was filled with some of West Blue's finest marines, having being deployed here due to the fact that West Blue's greatest pirates had docked here. And they were all led by one man. Captain Collins was sitting in his room, brooding to himself, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Enter." He said in a soothing, yet at the same time commanding voice.

The door opened and a marine nervously walked into the room, somewhat intimidated to be in his captain's presence. "C-Captain Collin, sir..." He stuttered. "I-I have the newest reports here, sir..."

"Really then?" Said Collins, paying no mind to the man's nervousness. He felt it was only natural for some to fear him, as he had been given the title of 'Strongest Captain in West Blue' by his fellow marines, a title he very much honored and took pride in. In fact, he had turned down several promotions to continue his post on Born to Run in his native West Blue. "How about we see them, then?" He asked the marine in a warm voice, trying to calm the man down.

"Ah, yes..." Said the man, slightly losing his stutter as he presented two pieces of paper to his captain. "Our latest reports have reported two major pirate landings here on Born to Run Island." He said. "One of them is the 'Renegade' James D. Shade of the Renegade Pirates, who as of this moment holds the highest bounty in all of West Blue."

Collins examined the bounty poster. This James D. Shade...he certainly looked like someone who you didn't want to mess with. "And the other?" He asked, not bothering to look at the other until he got proper information.

"Ah yes...the other is the 'Little Queen' Heart, Captain of the Heart Pirates. Currently holds a bounty of 22,000,000 Beli..."

Collins looked at the other wanted poster. He gave whistle. "Damn, she's fine." He said.

"Captain!" Said the marine. "This is no time to admire her! We've got 50 Million worth of bounties on the island right now, we should take some action.

"50 Million, huh?" Said Collins, as he gazed at the two bounty posters. "I might become a rich man today..."

***

"Captain Heart! Captain Heart!" A short, chubby looking man with a blue bandanna was running throughout the streets, panting as he was trying to catch up with a group of people. "Captain Heart!" He called out again in between pants.

The leader of the group turned around the face him. She was a woman with short blond hair who looked to be in her late twenties, and stood slightly over six feet tall. She was wearing a red cape with fluffy white outlines, such as one a king might wear. Under this was an outfit that resembled a one-piece bathing suit, revealing her amazing legs. In one of her gloved hands she was holding a long, old style cigarette. "What is it, Wilson?" She asked, as she took a puff of the cigarette. "Didn't I tell you to watch the ship?"

"B-but Captain, that's what I'm here to tell you about..." Said Wilson, trying to regain his breath. "Another ship docked right next to ours. They didn't see me, but I saw them...And I saw this man!" He showed his captain the bounty poster of Shade.

Heart snatched the poster out of his hands and began to look at it. "'James D. Shade'? He looks quite the fellow...28 Million? My, he must be quite the fighter..." She pondered, as she took another puff.

"W-what should we do, Captain?" Asked Wilson. The other pirates of her crew that Heart had been walking with began to whisper this question amongst themselves.

"Now then, everyone calm down." She said. "This guy hasn't done anything yet. I'm not going to risk our chances of getting to the Grand Line attacking a guy who hasn't done anything to us yet. If he attacks us, we'll fight back. If he doesn't, we'll leave him alone. Got that?" She asked everyone.

"Yes, Captain Heart!" They all said in unison.

Heart looked at the photo again. "Although," She said, looking at the man in the photo. "He does look like a very interesting man. I would love to meet him face to face..." With that in mind, she and her crew continued to walk throughout the streets.

***

A/N: And there you have it. What did you all think? A wee bit shorter than my last few chapters, but trust, It's going to get awesome from here. But until then, please review and tell me what you think about this chapter!


	12. Born to Run II

A/N: Hey everyone, me again with another chapter. A few things I wanna say before this chapter begins. First off, I realized thatr 'Heart Pirates' is an actual pirate crew in the One Piece world, being the name of Law's crew. So from here on, Heart's pirate crew will be called the 'Heart Queen' Pirates. Second, this chapter features two OCs submitted by stevethemime. Third, this is my first chapter submitted on my shiny new laptop (early christmas present....). So with those in mind, please enjoy this next chapter!

***

"Captain Collins!"

Captain Collins had left the marine quarters and was walking around the streets of Born to Run Island. Leaving the darkness of his office exposed his bulky figure as the sun shone down on him. He was a middle-aged looking man, who's head was completely bald under his marine hat and had a wide looking jaw structure. Under his marine jacket that he was wearing that symbolized his rank as captain, he was wearing a rather ordinary looking black long sleeved shirt with belted blue jeans. He turned around after hearing his name being called out. He turned to see the marine from before running towards him.

"Captain Collins, sir!" Said the marine, panting as he finally caught his captain's attention. "Are you really planning to capture both of these pirates?"

"Yeah, I guess I am." Said Collins, shrugging off the matter like it was no big deal.

"But sir, trying to take on 50 Million worth of bounties all at once by yourself..." Said the marine, trying to get his point through to Collins, and at the same time shuddering slightly at the thought of what trying to fight that strong of pirates was like. "That would be like suicide!"

"You were the one who said we should take some action." Said Collins to the marine, still not seeing why he was making such a big deal about the matter.

"This isn't what I meant! I meant something like gather a bunch of our soldiers, then we try to capture at least one of them..." His statement was stopped short, as he felt one of Collins' large hands on one of his shoulders. He looked up to see the figure of his captain towering over him.

"Listen, just leave it to me. If I feel we need troops, I'll call them in. Just let me handle things. After all, I am the captain." He said. He didn't say it that loudly or fearsomely, but the marine looked a bit shook up after being told this.

"Y...Yes, sir..." He said, as he began to run back to the base.

Collins gave a sigh as he watched the marine run back to the base. _Was I ever that pathetic?_ He thought to himself. _Why can't the rookies ever realize that I'm never going to do anything foolish or stupid like get myself killed..._ He turned around to resume his walk, however in doing so he bumped into another person walking with a hard collision, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" The other person told him as he stood back up.

"Sorry...my bad...I wasn't looking..." Said Collins, apologizing as he too got up and began to brush himself off. He then looked at the person he had bumped into. He was hit with an instant wave of familiarity. The blond hair, the white undershirt...

"Come on Shade, look where you're going!" Said another person carrying some bags, who was helping him up.

"Sorry Lilli. It was this guy's fault though." Said Shade, pointing at Collins.

Lilli looked at Collins. He almost dropped the bags full of food and other things they where buying once he noticed the man's attire. He quickly pulled Shade aside "Oi, Shade..." He whispered to Shade. "This guy's a marine! And a high ranked one at that!"

"Eh? Really?" Exclaimed Shade at hearing this fact and looked at Collins again, this time taking note of his marine attire.

"Sssh! Don't let him hear you, idiot!" Said Lilli, trying to shush Shade, but soon figured it was too late. _Shit, looks like getting of here won't be as easy as I hoped..._ The thought ran through his mind.

However, Collins just gave them a cheerful grin. "Well, I'll be off then. Sorry about that." He said, giving them a brief wave before leaving the scene, leaving Shade and Lilli with confused faces.

"Did he...not recognize us?" Asked Shade. "Well, my bounty is pretty new, maybe he hasn't seen it yet..."

_No, as he marine, he's had to have seen it. _Lilli thought. _Did he really just forget Shade's face? He'd also have to have forgotten mine too...if that's the case, we're really lucky...that guy looked hella strong..._

Meanwhile, as Collins began to leave the scene, his own mind was full of thoughts as well. _Like I said, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'm not just going to attack him straight up. I should measure him up a bit...He's not as frightening as I thought, but I still don't know his true strength yet..._His thoughts were interrupted when he spotted a big commotion occurring at a nearby shop stand. He peered over the heads of the people that were crowded around the area to see what was happening. _Well well well... _A smile appeared on his face. _Looks like today's my lucky day._

What he saw was Captain Heart, as well as her crew followers, standing in front of the stand. Heart had one of her arms strangled around the shopkeeper's throat, as he was desperately gasping for air.

"Now then," She asked in a mock sweet voice. She held up her other hand to the man. Being held in the hand was an expensive looking pearl necklace. "_How much_ did you say this pearl necklace here cost?"

"F...Forty....Millio...." Said the man, desperately trying to grab some air before he suffocated.

"Huh? _What_ did you just say?" Said Heart in the mocking voice again, tightening her grip after "What". "I could have _sworn _you just said 40 Million, but I don't think it could be _that_ expensive now, could it?" She added, continuing to tighten her hold on the man.

Her subordinates, who where still around her, began to mutter amongst themselves.

"That guy...I don't understand why he doesn't just give it to her..."

"Yeah...the captain gets real serious when it comes to jewelry..."

"He should realize his life is in danger...Captain Heart is very strong..."

However, the shopkeeper still refused to give in, for whatever crazy reason or another he had. He remained stubborn about the price, despite his situation. "F...Forty...." He tried to squeak out his statement again, but before he could finish, he found himself no longer able to speak. His eyes began to roll to the back of his head as he began to faint. Heart let go of her grasp as the fainted man fell to the ground.

"Really? Only 40 Beli for this amazing thing?" She said, examining the necklace that she knew was now hers."I guess I can afford that!" She threw a few coins at the passed out man. "Keep the change!" She said.

_Yesh...she looks like she'd be a real handful too. _Thought Collins as he observed the woman's actions _Her bounty doesn't lie...I don't think now would be the best time to attack either...too many people around..._He began to turn and walk away.

"Wait a minute." He heard Heart say, in a more serious voice. "Just where do you think you're going, Captain Collins?"

Collins looked back to see Heart, as well as the crowd of people that had gathered looking straight at him. He gave a sigh. "Shit, you caught me." He said. "I didn't think you would recognize me."

"Why not? You're the one marine I keep my eye out for, Mr. Strongest-Marine-in-West-Blue." Said Heart back to him. "The one obstacle that keeps pirates from entering the Grand Line, the 'Dream Killer' Collins..."

"Hey now, I'm not a killer of anything." Said Collins. "I'm just doing my job here. Marines fight pirates, am I right?" He asked. "Speaking of which, calling me out like this means you wish to fight me, am I right?"

"Oh no." Said Heart, pulling out one of her long cigarettes and lighting it. "I won't be the one fighting you."

Collins raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" He said with a grin. "And just who will, might I ask?"

"If you want to conquer a castle, first you must conquer it's defenses." Explained Heart. "You have to defeat my subordinates if you wish to fight me."

"That doesn't seem very fair to me." Said Collins in a joking manner. "By the time I got to you, I'd be a little tired, wouldn't I?"

"What makes you so sure you'll reach me?" Asked Heart. She turned towards her group of subordinates that had been following her. "Black Jack! #10! Make sure I never have to touch this man!"

From her group of subordinates, two people emerged. One was male and had a tall, lean frame, but also looked a bit muscular. Long, black hair could be seen from out of his black cowboy hat, and he also sported a black, rugged beard on his face. He was wearing a tattered black trench coat over a blue shirt, with jeans and black cowboy boots on his feet. Across his face was a black eye patch, that bore a black playing card "Spade" symbol.

The second person was a woman, however her true appearance was concealed by a white bodysuit that had black diamonds going across the right arm. Her face was also concealed by an opera mask, one half of it black, the other half white.

"You want us to take care of him, Cap'n?" Spoke the man with a southern drawl.

"That's right, Black Jack." Said Heart. She then focused her attention back towards Collins. "You should be honored, Collins." She spoke. "These two are the most strongest on my ship other than me. It shows you how much I respect your power."

"I was kind of hoping you'd respect a little more, so I could just fight you." Said Collins. "But if this is the way it has to be, so be it!" Collins threw off his marine attire, leaving him in just his black shirt and jeans, as well as exposing his bald head.

"Nice hair." Joked Black Jack.

"Thanks. I get that all the time." Joked Collins back, before regaining his seriousness and taking his fighting stance.

Black Jack suddenly whipped out something and threw it extremely fast towards Collins. Collins barely reacted in time and narrowly evaded the attack. The thing that Black Jack had thrown instead hit a wall, revealing it to be a playing card, a five of hearts.

"Yikes, that was actually pretty close." Remarked Collins, not losing his cool.

"You bet. A few more inches and you'd have lost an arm." Said Black Jack. "Now then, let's take it up a notch." He pulled out another playing card, a 10 of clubs. He chucked it at a rapid speed towards Collins.

_Heh, I'm more prepared this time..._Though Collins as he prepared to dodge, however, before he could, he saw a blinding flash of light went off, as if someone had taken a flash photo of his face. He quickly shielded his eyes from the flash, but as he did so he felt the playing card graze his arm. "Shit...what was that..." He asked to no one in particular.

"My cards' effect depending on number." Explained Black Jack. "One through nine are just blades, but a ten blinds you. Would you like to see an Ace?" He asked, pulling out another card.

The conversation was suddenly interrupted. "Hey, Collins!" Both of them looked to see Heart, now standing near Collins. "I've changed my mind." She said. "I'll fight you face to face now!"

"Finally!" Exclaimed Collins, happy to get through all the small fry and fight the captain head on. He ran towards Heart and prepared to deliver a punch to her face. However, right before he was about to strike her, she suddenly changed into the woman wearing the opera mask. This caused Collins, now slightly shocked by this transformation, to delay his hit. This made the woman able to deliver a kick right to his stomach, causing him to fall back as he clutched his stomach.

"Ow. I knew I should have lost some weight..." He said. "That transformation...it could me by surprise there."

"That's #10 for you. A master of disguise." Said Black Jack. "Hmph. Are you really the strongest marine in all of West Blue? We're not even your true target and you seem to be already losing."

"Hey, I'm just getting warmed up here!" Said Collins, regaining his fighting stance. "It's going to take a lot more than that to bring this guy down!" He suddenly winded back for a punch, even though there was no one in striking distance. "KUUKI HAMON!" He declared as he punched forward. He hit nothing but air, but suddenly, an invisible blast was released through the air, as it hit Black Jack directly, causing him to take a hard fall. Onlookers gasped at this strange occurrence.

"What...was that?" Said Black Jack, slow to get up from the attack.

"I ate the Hamon Hamon Fruit." Said Collins. "Whenever I hit something, a ripple effect will occur, spreading the force all throughout the object. This includes even air!"

"A Devil Fruit..." Said Black Jack, still hurting from the attack. "I should have seen that coming. I guess you aren't called the strongest 'round here for nothing."

"Heh, there's plenty more where that came from." Said Collins, challenging Black Jack and #10 to attack him. With that, the battle continued to resume.

Meanwhile, Shade, who along with Lilli had been near the battle but had not paid it much mind until now, began to take notice.

"Hey, look over there!" Noted Shade, pointing to the scene. "Looks like some sorta battle or something!"

Lilli noticed the scene. "Hey, it's that marine guy from before." He said, recognizing Collins. "I guess he found someone else to fight with."

"I wanna get a closer look!" Said Shade, beginning to walk towards the scene, but was quickly stopped by Lilli.

"You idiot! What if he sees us again? Maybe he'll remember your face after seeing it again. Remember, we want to get out of here as soon as possible..."

"What's going on over here?" They heard another voice. They looked to see Iris, Zucchero, Riana and Kai coming towards them. "You guys done shopping?" Asked Kai.

"Pretty much." Said Lilli. "Some food, medical gear...that kinda stuff. What did you guys get?"

"The same. At least we started to, then this woman began spending it on booze." Said Kai, sounding slightly irked at Iris.

"Hey, Lilli told us get the essentials, didn't he?" Retorted Iris. She then noticed the battle going on behind them. "What's going on over there?" She asked.

"Oo! A battle! Looks fun!" Said Riana, as she began to run towards it into the crowd of onlookers to get a better look.

"Hey, wait for me!" Said Shade, as he began to walk towards it again. The others, seeing that they apparently had no choice in the matter, to follow him.

***

Meanwhile, Shade and his crew weren't the only ones who were spectating the fight. Farther away, a person was spying on the scene through some binoculars. However, instead of looking at the battle, the person had their binoculars more focused on Heart.

"Finally found you." Said the person to themselves. "You didn't think you could run away forever now, could you Heart?" The person gave a sigh. "How did I get stuck with this job, it's such a drag...I should be doing something more important than this..." The person changed their binoculars to a different person. "Although...it seems _that person_ is also here..." The person cracked a smile. "Heh...maybe this could be fun after all."

***

A/N: And there you have it! Left you all with a real cliffhanger this time, didn't I? What did you all think? Please review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter! Once again, the OCs Black Jack and #10 were sent iny by stevethemime.


	13. Born to Run III

A/N: Hey everyone, me again. Did everyone here enjoy their Christmas? I sure know I did! (New laptop and computer moniter, awesome). And now that Chirtsmas is over, I know present to you our newest chapter! Enjoy!

***

Collins wiped some sweat from his brow. He had figured getting by these two subordinates he was facing would be a breeze, but now he realized it might take a little more work than he had hoped for. Luckily, he still had the Hamon Hamon Fruit on his side, and still had many tricks left in the bag with it. However, so did Black Jack and #10.

"Now then, let's take it up another notch, shall we?" Said Black Jack, throwing an Ace card towards Collins. As the card came towards him, Collins noticed a Spade shaped aura around the card. Collins again dodged, but found this one harder to dodge than all the other cards that had thrown at him so far, as he had to practically dive to the ground to avoid it, hitting the ground with a soft _oomf_. The card instead hit a wall behind Collins, as he watched it drill through the entire wall in the spade shape that had surrounded it.

_Those cards of his, they're pretty troublesome..._Thought Collins, beginning to get back up. _I should focus on the Black Jack guy for now, he seems like the more troublesome one..._ However, as he got back up he saw that there were now not one, but two Black Jacks.

"Don't think we don't know what you're planning." Said one of them. "'That Black Jack guy looks stronger, so let's focus on him then take out the weaker one'. Something like that, right? But which ones the real me?"

"Predicting the opponent's strategy, not bad." Said Collins, trying to figure out which one was the real Black Jack. "You've got a good crew here, Heart."

"Of course." Said Heart, with another puff of her cigarette as she continued to spectate the match. "I only demand the best, after all."

"Ah, but so do I. Both in my subordinates and myself. I won't let something like this get in my way." Said Collins. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, a more confident look appearing in them. He then dashed to one of the Black Jacks and punched him across the face. The other one then promptly returned to being #10.

The real Black Jack got up slowly, pain aching throughout his whole body, thanks the ripple effect the punch had. He rubbed the bruise on his face. "How did you know?" He asked Collins solemnly.

"My Hamon Hamon Fruit, in addition to sending ripple waves, can also detect other ripples." Said Collins. "I could feel the ripples of you two's breaths as they hit the ground. The difference is extremely small, but thanks to that, I could figure out which one of you by listening to each of your breathing."

"Tch, you're one tough bastard." Remarked Black Jack, still angry after taking a full blown hit from Collins.

"Same could be said for you." Said Collins. The fight had already lasted longer than he had expected, and was getting a bit antsy has he was still far from his goal of getting his main target, Heart. He took a fighting pose. "Let's see if we can wrap this up, shall we?"

Black Jack smirked, as he pulled out some more playing cards. "Alright, just don't regret it now.

***

Outside the battle, Shade and his gang had found their way throughout the crowd and had began to spectate the match.

"That marine guy's pretty good." Noted Shade, watching the battle unfold. "I could still take him, though."

"Are you sure?" Asked Ligoro. "He looks pretty tough to me. He could tell those two people apart just by their breathing..."

"Heh, I can do that too." Said Shade, unimpressed by that feat. "My Kan Kan Fruit could also pick it up as well. I could still beat him."

"Well whatever, let's just not try and find out." Said Kai. "We want to get off this island without getting in any major battles, so let's just finish up our shopping and..."

"With what? We've used up most of our money already." Iris butted in.

"...And just who's fault is that?" Asked Kai, angry at being interrupted as he noted at Iris' large bag full of drinks she was carrying.

"Hey, I need this." Said Iris, holding the bag defensively. Just then, they all heard some more gasps coming from the crowd. They all turned and focused back on the battle they were spectating, as they all noted Collins was holding his fist back, as if he was charging some sort of energy.

"Alright then, it's settled." They heard Collins say. "Well settle this all in our next attacks. This will truly determine who's stronger!"

Black Jack grinned. "Alright with me. I like this sort of thing." He pulled out a King playing card. #10 also appeared to agree, as spikes suddenly shot out from two gauntlets that were attached to her arms, wielding them like blades.

Collins then smirked as well. "Then let's end this! TAIFUU..." As he began his attack, someone suddenly jumped down from a building above into the middle of the battlefield. "HAMON!" Collins, not seeing the person until it was too late, fired a another large blast, even bigger this time, as if he had just shot a cannon. Instead of hitting the target, it hit the person in the middle as an explosion was made the instant it made contact with the person, surrounding the person in smoke.

Black Jack had a shocked expression on his face. "W..what was that? Did someone just jump down?"

"Hmph, whoever it was, they must have had some sort of death wish." Said Collins, still waiting for the smoke to clear to see who he had hit. "Jumping down from a building then taking my Taifuu Hamon directly...it'd be instant death."

However, as the smoke cleared, everyone could make out the silhouette of the person, who was still standing upright.

"My, my...." Spoke the mysterious person. The voice was a female's. "That was pretty dangerous of me, jumping in during the middle of an attack. Good thing I blocked it...maybe I should be more careful next time..."

Suddenly, Heart's eyes developed a look of sudden horror and fear. "Th...this voice...." She said, suddenly sounding panicked. "It...it can't be...."

Iris' eyes also perked up at hearing this voice. "This voice...I wonder..."

The smoke finally cleared, revealing the person's true figure. It was a woman who was quite tall, standing at about 6'1", and had tanned skin and short, dirty blond hair. Also, like Iris, this person was dressed in a knight like outfit. A large sword could be seen attached to her back.

Iris' eyes narrowed. "So it is you, Xuxa."

"Huh? You know this person?" Asked Shade, who still was confused about the whole scene.

"Yeah, we know the same style." Answered Iris, not taking her eyes off Xuxa.

Xuxa turned her head towards Iris, causing everyone else gathered to look as well. "Hey there, Iris." She said, as a slightly twisted looking smile appeared on her face. "Still loitering around these parts, I see."

"Not for much longer, though." Retorted Iris back. "I joined a pirate crew, we were just about to move the Grand Line. Gonna help Shade here become the Pirate King." She finished, giving Shade a pat on the back to identify him.

"Hey, don't drag me into this..." Whispered Shade to Iris.

_Xuxa..._Collins thought to himself as he watched the scene from afar. _Where have I heard that name before..._

"Really? So you've joined a Pirate Crew..." Said Xuxa. "What a coincidence, so have I. I'm helping Mariah-sama find One Piece as well."

"Ah, now I remember!" Said Collins suddenly, causing everyone to turn their attention towards him. "You're 'Swordsmistress' Xuxa, First Mate of the Dream Pirates. Your former bounty was 91,000,000 beli, if I'm not mistaken..."

Lilli's eyeballs almost popped out of his head. _Ninety One _Million? His father, he person he despised as a parent but respected as a strong pirate, didn't even come close to that.

"Wait a minute." Said Zucchero. "You said 'Former Bounty'. Then that means..."

"That's right." Said Xuxa. "My Captain, Mariah, is one of the Shichibukai!" This statement elicited a few more gasps from the ground. "Anyway, I didn't come here to chat with you, Iris. What I really came here for..." She said, turning towards the frightened Heart. "Is you, Heart."

"X-Xuxa..." Said Heart, choking on her fear. "M-Mariah sent y_-you?_"

"I know." Said Xuxa. "I begged and pleaded with her, telling her she didn't need someone as strong as me to clean up someone like you. But she was really insistent on using me. I guess she really hates you. I don't blame her, though, after what you did."

"Captain," Said Black Jack, looking to face Heart. "Just what is going on here?"

"Oh? She's never told you this story?" Said Xuxa with a grin. "I'll be happy to tell you. You see, your Captain Heart here used to be a member of our crew, until she got greedy and ran away, and took quite a bit of Mariah-sama's treasure with her as well..." Her grin widened slightly seeing Heart go into a deeper panic. "I saw your ship, it's pretty nice. I bet you've been spending it extravagantly. Mariah's not going to like that..." Xuxa then drew the large sword she was carrying from her back. "Now then, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Easy way is, you surrender all what you have left of Mariah's treasure and whatever you bought with it to me, and then you let Baldy here bring you and your crew to jail."

"Hey, just who are you calling 'Baldy'?" Said Collins in a playful voice.

Suddenly, Black Jack and #10 stepped forward towards Xuxa. "Now hold on here," Said Black Jack. "I still don't really get what's going on, but...no one talks about our Captain like that."

"Yeah, no one does!" Said #10, giving a rare input on the matter.

"I would advise you two to move." Said Xuxa. "I have no problem wiping you two up either."

"Fat chance!" Said Black Jack, pulling out his King playing card again, as #10 also pulled out her blades. Black Jack then tossed the playing card at Xuxa as #10 charged towards the swordswoman as well.

"Wait!" Called out Heart to her crew mates. "Don't attack this person! She's far too strong..."

It was too late. Xuxa swiftly slashed her sword at the playing card, causing a small explosion, however it did no damage to the sword whatsoever. As she did, #10 leaped high in the air and thrusted one of her blades that were attached to her arms towards Xuxa. However Xuxa was able to react in time. "HIBARI-RYU:" She said swinging the sword at #10 "MIDAREGAMI!" The sword hit #10 with an amazing force, leaving a large gash across her stomach as she flew backwards, ramming into Black Jack, causing both to take a hard fall on the ground. Both laid on the ground, heavily wounded and knocked out.

"Black Jack! #10!" Yelled Heart, now even more emotionally strained to see her two comrades go down.

"This is what you get, Heart." Said Xuxa, walking towards Heart again. "I hope you learned not to mess with us..." Suddenly, another figure appeared, stepping in the way of Xuxa yet again. This made Xuxa slightly angry. "Iris," She told the person. "Move."

"Sorry to interfere in your little mission here," Said Iris. "But I can't just sit here and watch you come and go without challenging you. I need to take what's mine."

"Iris," Said Xuxa, talking to her as if she was a child who was doing something wrong and didn't know it. "The gap in our powers has gotten far bigger than the last time we fought. Do you still think you can defeat me?"

"I won't know unless I try." Said Iris, drawing her sword.

Xuxa gave a deep sigh, before facing Iris with her own sword. "Fine," She said. "I guess I have no problem cleaning you up either."

***

A/N: And there you have it! What did you all think? I found this chapter kind of hard to write for some reason, don't know why...hope I did alright. Next chapter I think I'll explore Iris' past a bit, to explain what the deal with her and Xuxa is. So as always, please leave me a review, and give me some comments or constructive criticism! I eagerly await your reviews! Also, for those who are confused with Xuxa's name pronunciation, it is pronounced like "Zuucksa". Hope that helps!


	14. Born to Run IV: Iris' Past

A/N: Hey everyone, me again. Here's the next chapter, and as promised, mainly focusing on Iris' past. Enjoy.

***

"I'm giving you one more warning, Iris." Said Xuxa, pointing her large sword at Iris. "If you fight me now, it'll be far different then before. My sword, Aisansan, will overpower your Misora. I'm going to try not to kill you, but I can't guarantee anything. It's not going to be close. With that in mind, do you really still want to fight me?"

Iris didn't bat an eye at these statements. "I have to, don't I?" She said. "It's probably what Sensei would have wanted..."

Xuxa twitched slightly at this, but soon recovered. "Hmph, Sensei always liked you best...she was modeling you to become the successor to Hibari-Ryu...but things didn't work out that way, did they?" A grin began to appear on her face. "You see Iris, some of Sensei's teachings were wrong...she thought through grace and elegance you could outdo any opponent...but in reality all that matters is who's stronger." She noticed a growing look of annoyance on Iris' face. "If you don't like it, why don't you try to attack me?"

"I will then." Said Iris, as she drew her sword and began to charge towards Xuxa.

***

_-12 years ago, Kuraki Island, West Blue-_

_The sun shone brightly on the small island. It was a quaint looking place, full of old style looking buildings. Amongst the alleyways of the buildings, there was a young girl wandering around slowly with long black hair, wearing tattered looking clothing and who looked like she hadn't bathed or been properly fed in who knows how long. She also looked to be on the verge of passing out. _

"_Mom...Dad...where are you..." The girl muttered weakly, though in her heart, she had realized that both had been long dead. Her eyelids began to feel heavy. She began to pass out as she fell to the ground, apparently no longer caring about what happened to her anymore. However, someone caught her before she fell to the ground. She looked to see a woman who looked to be about 30, who had dark hair that was tied into a bun, and was wearing what looked like a knight's outfit with a sword attached to her hip._

"_Are you okay?" The woman asked the girl._

"_Y...yeah..." Said the girl faintly, though the woman didn't seem to buy it._

"_Are you sure? Where are your parents at?" The woman asked again._

"_I...I don't have any..." The young girl admitted. _

"_Well, you can't be doing that well off if you're trying to live by yourself, can you?" Said the woman with a smile. "What's your name?" She asked the girl._

"_I...Iris..." The girl stated._

"_Iris? That's a nice name." Said the woman. "My name is Roxette. Why don't you come live with me at my dojo? It'd be a lot better than trying to survive here."_

"_R...really..." Said the young Iris, still acting quite shy around this woman. "O...okay...I guess..."_

_Roxette just gave another smile. "C'mon now, there's no need to be shy!" She said, trying to get Iris to warm up to her. "Here, follow me to my dojo."_

_***_

"_Sensei, who's that?" Called out another voice as Roxette and Iris arrived at their destination, an old, traditional looking dojo. Waiting at the door was another girl with tanned skin and blond hair, looking a little older than Iris._

"_This girl's name is Iris, Xuxa." Said Roxette, introducing the girls to each other. "She'll be living with us from now on."_

"_Will she be training, too?" Asked Xuxa. This question seemed more important to her. _

"_If she wants to." Answered Roxette. She looked at Iris. "Would you like to train with us?"_

"_Train?" Asked Iris, a bit confused by the statement. "Train in what?"_

"_My sword style, the Hibari-Ryu." Answered Roxette. "Very powerful, but also full of grace and elegance. Would you like to give it a try?"_

_Iris thought about this offer for a moment. "Okay, I guess." Her young mind figured she should say yes, after all, this woman had pretty much saved her life._

"_Then it's settled then." Said Roxette. "You two will begin practicing together in half an hour."_

"_Oi, Sensei, you can't be serious!" Said Xuxa. "You've been training me for more than year, how do you expect her to just join in like she knows everything?"_

"_I'll run the basics by her, then we'll see what happens." Said Roxette with a smile, clearly thinking lighter of the situation than Xuxa did. Xuxa scowled a bit before leaving the scene as Roxette began to brief the instructions of Hibari-Ryu._

_***_

"_Hmph, so you're going to fight me, huh?" Said Xuxa. Standing across from her was Iris, as both wielded wooden practice swords. "Listen, I don't know what Sensei is thinking trying to have you fight me, but I'm not gonna go easy on you because you're new!"_

It looks like Xuxa is serious about this..._Thought Roxette. _Let's just see how this turns out...

_Xuxa then began to charge towards Iris and swung her wooden sword down on the girl, however, she was surprised to see that Iris had blocked the attack with her own sword. "Wha...how did you do that?!" Asked Xuxa._

"_I just did the blocking motion like how Sensei told me too..." Said Iris matter-of-factly. "Your attack was pretty obvious...it was easy to block..."_

_From afar, Roxette smiled slightly. However, this only made Xuxa angrier. "Grrr...that was just beginner's luck!" Said Xuxa. "I'd like to see you do that again!" She added as she swung down her sword again towards Iris._

_***_

"_GYAAH!" Screamed Xuxa as her practice sword clashed with Iris'. It had been a few years after Iris had arrived at the dojo, both girls now in their early teens. The two locked swords for awhile, before Iris suddenly moved to the side, causing Xuxa to take an awkward stumble. Iris used this chance to strike Xuxa in the back with her wooden sword, knocking Xuxa to the ground._

"_Dammit...how do you always do that?" Asked Xuxa, annoyed as she rubbed the wound on her back. _

Xuxa, you are too focused on strength. _Thought Roxette. _You only think about overpowering the enemy, using brute strength alone. But Hibari-Ryu is about using intelligence and grace to counteract that strength. You cannot use Hibari-Ryu to overpower an opponent, only to outmaneuver them. Iris understands this, this is why she will prevail..._Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she began vehemently coughing. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, but the coughing still ensued._

"_Sensei! Are you alright?" Asked Iris, noting the condition._

"_Yeah, I'm fine, I've just been sick these past few days." Said Roxette reassuringly. She looked at her hand she had covered her mouth with and noticed __blood that was on it. She quickly hid this from view. "I'm sure it'll be fine, so why don't we continue with the lesson then?" She said with a smile._

_***_

_However, as the years went by, it became apparent to everyone that it was not going to be fine, as Roxette's condition seemed to worsen. It turns out she had been infected with a rare, incurable disease and that she probably was never going to get better. Five years had passed since she had first developed it, and now Roxette found herself lying in her bed, very weak, as her two apprentices stood beside her._

"_Sensei..." Said the now adult looking figure of Iris, gazing at her master. Roxette looked back at her and smiled._

"_Iris...and Xuxa...both of you have grown so much..." She said in a raspy, weak voice. Suddenly, Roxette began trying to get out of the bad, doing so with great difficulty._

"_Wait! The doctor said you should stay in bed..." Started Xuxa, but Roxette held a hand to her face. _

"_I don't care what he said..." Said Roxette, somehow finding the strength to stand. "There's something important...I need to show you two something..." She said faintly. "Follow me..." She tried to walk, but almost immediately lost her balance and was caught by Iris._

"_Sensei, you really shouldn't walk..." Said Iris, trying to convince her teacher, but Roxette was having none of it._

"_This is important...just help me walk..." Said Roxette. With this order, Iris assisted Roxette towards their destination._

_***_

"_S..Sensei...this is...." Said Xuxa, admiring what Roxette was showing them. Displayed in front of them was a wall that had all sorts of swords, real swords, hanging from it._

"_Both of you, pick one." Wheezed Roxette. "Each of you two's training of Hibari-Ryu...is complete..."_

"_R-really?" Asked Iris, almost not believing the words. She looked at the selection of swords before choosing one, a small, claymore like sword. "I pick this one!" She announced._

"_Ah...Misora...a fine sword indeed..." Said Roxette. "You will be able to use it well, I'm sure..."_

_Xuxa also looked at the large array of swords, before picking one out one, a sword that looked bigger than all of the rest. "I pick this one." She said._

_Roxette cracked a weak smile. "I knew you'd pick that one...Aisansan...hard to weild, but has the most power...now then," She said in between a cough. "You both are now considered users of Hibari-Ryu, but there can only be one true successor to Hibari-Ryu."_

"_Then which one of us is it?" Asked Xuxa._

_Roxette smiled. "I will decide that tomorrow." She answered. "Now then, help me back to my bed."_

_***_

"_Sensei!" Called out Iris as she entered her master's room. "I'm ready to..." Her voice stopped when she entered the room, as she noticed her master was not in the room, the only person in the room was Xuxa, staring at the empty bed. "Huh? Where's Sensei?" Asked Iris._

_Xuxa looked her with a sullen expression. "She died. Last night. In her sleep." She finally answered, having to swallow a bit after saying it._

"_Eh?" Said Iris. It was taking her awhile to process the information she had just been given. "What did you...just...say?"_

"_I said she died!" Said Xuxa again, saying it louder so she wouldn't have to repeat it. "The doctors came by and took her body away this morning..."_

_Whatever else Xuxa said Iris didn't hear. Her mind was in total shock. Her master had died, just like that...she had just been talking to them yesterday... "But, who's going to be successor?" She finally hd the strength to ask._

"_The way I see it, there's only one way." Said Xuxa. "We fight for it."_

"_F...fight?" Said Iris. Fighting was one of the last things she wanted to do right now._

"_Yeah, whoever wins is successor." Said Xuxa. "What do you think?"_

_On a normal occasion, maybe Iris would have given this some thought. After all, Hibari-Ryu isn't about strength, so another method might be better. But her mind was far too shaken right now. "A...alright..." She agreed._

_***_

_A few hours later, Iris and Xuxa stood apart from each other, now dressed in their armor, swords in hand. _

"_Are you ready?" Asked Xuxa, holding her sword to Iris._

_Iris, still a bit shaken, held up her sword. "Y..yeah..." She said, though she still wasn't very sure about it._

"_Then here I come!" Called out Xuxa as she ran at Xuxa and swung down her sword. Just like previous times in the past, Iris deflected it, but soon her defense broke down and she had to quickly move out of the way._

Hmph, Iris, this is where 'strength' prevails, _Thought Xuxa to herself. _Your mind is shaken by the loss of Sensei, but my strengthened mind as already accepted her death and moved on. _Xuxa's sword again locked with Iris'. _This is why I..._In one dashing movement, Xuxa knocked the sword out of Iris' hands, as Iris herself was knocked down. _...Will be victorious! _Xuxa held her sword close to Iris' throat, before withdrawing it. "I win." Said Xuxa. Saying nothing more, Xuxa began to walk away from Iris, the title of Successor to Hibari-Ryu hers._

_And it was here that the paths of Iris and Xuxa began to split. Iris, now even more shaken by her master's death and this loss, began visiting a pub on the island, and was first introduced to alcohol. She stayed around in the West Blue, occasionally taking out a few bounties for money, which she would wind up spending on some more booze. Xuxa began traveling the seas to grow stronger, eventually joining the Dream Pirates as they rose to power, her own strength increasing every day while Iris wallowed around in West Blue. The gap in the two's powers got bigger by the day._

_***_

"What did I tell you?" Said Xuxa, sheathing her sword into it's holster on her back. In front of her laid Iris, a large gash visible on her shoulder, blood streaming out of it. "I told you it wouldn't be the same. The difference in strength between us has gotten far greater."

_I see, _Thought Iris as she lay on the ground, on the verge of passing out due to the blood she was losing. _She has gotten...that much stronger..._

"Now then, if you don't mind, I've got other things to do." Said Xuxa, as she began to advance again towards Heart.

***

A/N: Well, here you have it...what did you think? Personally, I found this chapter kind of hard to write...I guess 'tragic pasts' aren't really my forte...hope I did well! Please review and tell me what you thought of it!


	15. Born to Run V

A/N: Hey everyone, me again...Happy New Year! And to kick off 2010, here's the conclusion to the Born to Run arc! Enjoy!

***

"IRIS!" Yelled Shade as he rushed towards his fallen comrade. Lilli followed behind him, wanting to examine the extent of the injury. Shade stared at Iris for a moment, then turned towards Xuxa, anger flaring in his eyes. "You..." He seethed. "Look, I don't really care about what happened between Iris and you in the past, but...when you injure one of my crew mates, it becomes part of my business!"

Xuxa looked at Shade with some distaste. "Che, how many more obstacles am I gonna have to clear if I wanna get to my goal..."

"CHOUJIN PUNCH!" Interrupted Shade as he quickly fired his Haki-driven punch towards Xuxa. This attack caught Xuxa completely by surprise, as the punch connected directly to her face. She felt some blood flow from one of her cheeks.

Xuxa wiped the flowing blood off her face with her hand. "You..." She hissed. "You hit my face! My face!" She repeated. _How the hell did he just do that?!_ More angry than injured from the attack, she began to pull out her sword again, however she someone grasp her hand, preventing her. She looked to see Collins grabbing her hand. "Don't interfere with my business!" She yelled.

"Hey now, we're both allies of the World Government here, let's make some compromise here." Said Collins. "Your target is Heart, right? I'll let you go after her. Let me deal with this guy." Collins looked towards Shade with an eager expression on his face. "I've been looking forward to fighting him."

"Tch, fine." Said Xuxa, still angry, as she rushed towards Heart. Collins meanwhile, turned towards Shade, and got ready to fight.

"So, we finally get to fight, James D. Shade." Said Collins, looking prepared to attack.

"Heh, you recognize me this time?" Said Shade as he cracked his knuckles.

"If you're referring to last time, I did recognize you, I just didn't feel like fighting you then." Answered Collins. "But now I'm totally in the mood." He opened up one of his palms. "KUUKI HAMON!" Collins pushed the palm forward , releasing an invisible blast towards Shade, who barely just dodged the attack.

_That ability of his is troublesome..._Thought Shade. _I can't dodge it like I can a bullet or sword. It can't be seen or heard as it' coming...the Kan Kan Fruit is useless right now...I can only rely on instinct to dodge them! _

"What's wrong? You look a little shaken." Taunted Collins, noting the difficulty Shade was having with his ability.

"Shut up!" Yelled Shade as he ran towards Collins to begin his counterattack.

***

Xuxa grinned as she finally appeared at her destination. In front of her was Heart, who had fallen to her knees, apparently ready to surrender. "Well Heart, what's it going to be?" She asked. "You can surrender here, but if you continue to resist I have no problem sending you back to Mariah in pieces..." By the sound of her voice, she seemed more hopeful that Heart would choose the latter.

"No...I'm through with running..." Heart said in a defeated voice. "I surrender...just don't hurt any of my crewmates..."

"Of course. I've had enough trash cleaning done today." Said Xuxa. "Now then, come with me. I'm sure Mariah-sama will be _very_ pleased to see you again." She added with a grin, knowing what this person's fate would be.

***

"KAN KAN RUSH!" Yelled Shade, throwing an array of punches at Collins, who was able to evade the punches that were thrown at him.

"Is this all you have?" Joked Collins. "I was expecting your attacks to be a little harder to dodge than this!"

_Shit, the punch I gave to that Xuxa girl hurt my arm again..._Thought Shade. _I can't really fight at my full strength here!_

"Shade!" Shade's thoughts were interrupted as he heard Ligoro calling to him. He looked to see Lilli sitting by the defeated Iris.

"Lilli! How Is she?" Shade asked, this question being more important to him than the battle.

"She's in critical condition right now!" Said Lilli. "I can save her, but we need to get back to the boat! I can't operate right here!"

"Right! Everyone, we're leaving!" Said Shade to his crew mates, forgetting about his battle as he began to run back to the ship.

"And just who said I was going to let you?" Yelled Collins as he dashed in front of Shade, blocking him off.

"Grrr...Everyone, head back to ship! I'll meet up with you!" Shade ordered to his nakama. They all nodded, understanding as they headed back to the ship, leaving Shade with Collins.

"That was some nice quick thinking there." Said Collins in an almost mock compliment. "Finding a way to get your injured member to safety while still dealing with me. Not bad." A grin broke his lips. "Unfortunately, it won't be that easy."

Shade's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" He asked, not sure if he wanted to here the answer.

"As the head marine on Born to Run Island, I am given the duty of trying to prevent pirates from entering the Grand Line." Explained Collins. "So, I take every measure to insure that pirates that land here do not escape."

Shade realized what he was talking about. "You can't mean..."

***

"Hurry! We're almost there!" Said Kai as he led the way for the members of the Renegade Pirates.

"We've got to hurry!" Said Lilli, carrying the injured Iris in his arms. "I don't know how much longer we have!"

"Don't worry, the ship should be somewhere around here..." Said Kai as they turned a corner of a nearby building, however what they saw caused them to stop dead in their tracks.

What they saw was the _Bat Out of Hell_, still docked where they had put it, but surrounding it now was a small army of marine soldiers. From a first glance, there looked to be almost three hundred of them standing around their ship.

One of them spotted the group of pirates. "There they are! Get them!" He announced. The marines all turned their attention towards the Renegade Pirates and charged towards them.

"Looks like we're gonna have to fight our way through." Said Zucchero, pulling out his two throwing knives.

"Awesome, a fight!" Said Riana, as if this was a good thing.

"Do you even know how to fight?" Asked Kai, not sure of Riana was taking this seriously or not.

"Of course! I'm strong!" Said Riana, flexing one of her arms.

Kai looked at the oncoming marines. "You better be..." He muttered to himself as he prepared to fight.

***

"That's right, before I came out of the marine base, I deployed some marine squads consisting of my finest marines towards your ship." Said Collins. "And conveniently, your ship happened to be docked next to Heart's, so I could guard both at once. But you have other things to worry about than that right now." Collins suddenly fired a swift punch towards Shade. "HAMONKEN!" He shouted as he tried to connect with Shade's face. Shade, now being able to see the fist coming, was able to effortlessly dodge the attack.

"Sorry, that won't work." Said Shade. "My Kan Kan Fruit makes me able to see and react faster to attacks like fists."

"I see. But you still have trouble with my Kuuki Hamon." Said Collins, as he used his other hand to fire a small ripple blast at Shade's chest, which Shade could not avoid. Shade felt the attack hit him, then felt the pain ripple through his body.

_Shit, that really hurts..._Thought Shade. _I need to finish this up quick, I've got to get back to the ship! Look's like I'll have to use Chou Kan Kan Rush...my arms better not fall off..._ With that in mind, he began to hurl his fists at Collins again.

Collins recognized the attack. "That again? Heh, the result will be the same!" He said, getting ready to dodge the attack yet again.

However, as the fists came closer, he noticed that the speed of the fists had gone up significantly. He attempted to block again, but this time the force seemed a bit too much. "CHOU KAN KAN RUSH!" Yelled Shade as the Haki-driven fists slammed into Collins, causing him to be flung backwards. He was not knocked out by the attack, however he did seem a little woozy and wasn't getting a normal circumstances, Shade would have taken this chance to finish him off. However, he had to be somewhere. "I'd love to fight more with you, but right now I gotta run!" He said, as he began to dash off towards the ship.

Collins, regaining his senses, began to stand back up slowly. However, by the time he stood up completely, Shade had completely vanished from view. "Crap...he got away..." Said Collins, giving a bland expression. "Oh well. Can't do anything about it now. Hopefully my forces at their ship will catch them..."

***

"CHIDAGEKI!" Yelled Kai, shooting blood from a cut on his arm that he had intentionally let a marine give him. The force knocked back several marines, putting them out of commission. However, just as those marines were defeated, new ones took their place. "Shit, there's no end to them..." He cursed.

Meanwhile, more marines began running towards Riana. Riana looked back on them, completely unafraid. "Take this!" She said, delivering a fierce kick to one of the marines. The kick connected with an amazing force, causing the marine to go flying into a group of marines, knocking them all down like bowling pins.

Everyone stopped for a moment to stare at the spectacle. "...Since when could you do that?" Asked Kai.

"I told you, I'm strong!" Answered Riana simply. The conversation was interrupted as they each had more marines to fight.

"We just need to hold them off until Shade shows up!" Said Zucchero, using his throwing knives as daggers as he slashed away at marines.

"Even so, we'd still have to beat nearly all of them if we wanted to board the ship." Said Lilli, helpless to do anything as he held Iris in his arms. "Can we really do that?"

"Of course we can !" Called out a familiar voice. Everyone looked to see Shade, arriving at the scene.

"Shade!" Said Lilli, happy to see that his Captain was alright. However, his expression soon became serious. "Listen, we've got to get our way to the ship. Iris' pulse is weakening!"

"Alright then!" Said Shade, ignoring the stinging pain in his arms. "Let's beat these marines then be off!" With that, he began to join the fray.

However, it soon became apparent it wouldn't be that easy. Perhaps if they had time, they could have whittled their way through the small army. But time was against them.

"Crap! How the hell are there so many?!" Said Shade angrily, punching another marine in the face. "We've got to get to our ship somehow!"

"If only there were more of us..." Said Kai, feeling the situation getting more desperate. "If only we had more people!" Suddenly, a loud explosion appeared in the center of the marine squad, knocking several marines away.

"Heh, don't forget, there's more than one dangerous crew here..." They heard a voice from the other end of the marine army say.

"That voice..." Said Shade, recognizing the voice as everyone looked to see who it was. "This is..."

"That's right! Captain Heart and the Heart Queen Pirates have arrived!" From the other end stood Heart, along with her fellow subordinates.

"But...weren't you captured?" Asked Zucchero.

"Thanks to your crew's diversions, the Captain was able to plan an escape." Said Black Jack, having thrown the exploding playing card.

"Right!" Said Heart. "We'll hold these guys off for you! I have more men, we'll keep them occupied. It's the least we can do!"

Shade looked releived as the marines changed their direction towards Heart. "Thanks!" He said. "See you in the Grand Line then!" With that, he and his crew began to run towards their ship.

"We sure will..." Said Heart, as she turned to face the oncoming marines. _#10, your sacrifice will not have been in vain, I promise you!_ She though, feeling guilt about having used her subordinate to disguise as her and switch places, despite the fact it was #10 herself that had proposed the idea. _I swear, once we reach the Grand Line, we will come and save you from Mariah's clutches! _With that in mind, her and her nakama charged towards the marines, engaging them in battle.

As they did, the Renegade Pirates boarded their ship and raised anchor, as they began to sail towards the Grand Line.

***

A/N: And there you have it? What did you think? Next chapter we'll be heading into the Grand Line! Be sure to look forward to it! Until then, please review!


	16. Welcome to the Grand Line

A/N: Hey everyone, me again. Ugh, back to school...hence why this chapter took a bit longer than others to update. So you can expect updates to be a bit slower from now. This chapter also introduces a character submitted by xdrake24. Enjoy this new installment!

***

"Ugh...where am I..." Said Iris groggily as she slowly opened her eyes. As her eyes came into focus, she saw that she was lying in a bed, one she recognized to be in a room located in the lower decks of the _Bat Out of Hell_. She also noticed that part of her armor on her right arm had been taken off, and thick bandages had taken it's place. Beside the bed was Lilli, standing over her.

"Ah, you're awake!" He said, looking relieved to see her waking up. "That was a nasty injury you had there, you were losing a lot of blood. Took my awhile to fix it up...but it's all better now. Just give it some time and it'll all be better."

"Thank you." Said Iris. She felt her shoulder. It still stung a bit. The image of Xuxa giving that wound to her flashed in her mind for a moment. _Did she really grow that much stronger..._She thought._ Or did I just become weaker? Or maybe both? _"What happened after?" She asked, knowing Ligoro would know what she meant.

"Nothing much. We kind of had to leave in order for me to treat you in time. We almost didn't make it, but that Heart woman and her crew showed up and helped us."

"Heart?" Said Iris in some moderate surprise. "She didn't get captured by Xuxa?"

"Yeah, she pulled some sort of trick and was able to escape." Answered Lilli.

Iris had to smile at this, somewhat happy to hear that her rival had failed. _Someday..._She thought, her mind becoming more optimistic. _Someday, I'll be stronger._

***

"Hey! Look who's up!" Said Shade as he saw Iris and Ligoro emerge from the front deck, trying to make light of the situation that had only yesterday had filled him full of anger. "Everything's all fine, I suppose, then?" He asked Ligoro.

"Yeah, luckily it didn't hit anything vital, just massive blood loss." Answered Lilli.

"Alright then. Riana! How much further until the Grand Line?" Said Shade, turning his direction towards Riana.

"We should be there soon!" Answered Riana dutifully. "But you know, just getting to the Grand Line is tough stuff, you know! We have to control our ship through the entrance correctly, or else we'll sink!"

"Heh don't worry about that." Said Shade. "If this ship really is 'cursed' like that old man said it was, something like the entrance to the Grand Line won't be able to bring it down!"

***

As the _Bat Out of Hell_ drew nearer to Reverse Mountain, the crew of the Renegade Pirates could indeed see the small streamline up the mountain the ship would have to pass through in order to cross over the mountain in order to enter the Grand Line.

"Woah, this mountain's gigantic!" Remarked Kai, gaping at the sheer size of the mountain. The others also nodded in agreement, with equally amazed looks on their faces.

"Alright then, hold that rudder tight!" Said Riana, trying to navigate their way to the entrance. Zucchero and Lilli obliged, each grabbing the ship's rudder firmly. The ship soon began to sail into the stream, climbing up the mountain at a rapid rate.

"We did it!" Remarked Shade, pumping his fist. "Grand Line, here we come!"

The ship continued to ascend up the mountain, until finally it reached the top, then, it began to descend, falling just as rapidly as it had climbed.

"I can see the ocean!" Remarked Kai, noticing the sky blue water visible beneath them.

"It's been quite a while..." Said Zucchero to himself, stroking his small beard.

Suddenly, Lilli noticed something as the ship began to descend further. "Hm?" He said inquisitively. "What's that?" He said, pointing towards to majestic ocean.

The rest followed his finger and saw what he was looking at. At first glance, it appeared to be some sort of black blob, but as they went further downward the object seemed to get bigger, and they could all see that there was some type of design painted on it, though they were still too far away to see what that was.

"What _is_ that?" said Shade with a puzzled look. "It looks like a mountain!"

"It's not a mountain, it's a..." Started Kai, even though he wasn't quite sure what he was going to say. However, as the ship continued to decline, the object began to reveal itself. "...whale?"

With a large BOOM the ship hit the ocean, making a small splash as it landed in the Grand Line. The members of the Renegade Pirates could now see the massive behemoth of a whale that stood in front of them, enormous in comparison to the ship.

"It really is a whale!" Said Shade, staring at the whale with large eyes. "But why the hell is it so big?"

"I've heard there is a species of whale that grows this big that lives in West Blue." Replied Iris. "But why is it here in the Grand Line?"

"Heh, we just arrived and we're already seeing bizarre things," Said Kai with a smirk. "The Grand Line's livin' up to it's name so far."

Suddenly, the whale gave off a large yawn, making an almost ear-piercing sound, causing everyone to cover their ears.

"Christ, this things loud as hell too!" Said Shade, having to yell at the top of his lungs to even be heard. With his Kan Kan Fruit increasing his hearing, he felt like his ears might start bleeding at any moment.

Iris suddenly noticed that the ship was suddenly moving forward. "The ship's moving..." She muttered, before realizing what was happening. "Wait a minute! We're being sucked in!" She called out. "We're going to get swallowed!"

"What?!" Called out Kai, unable to make out what she was saying over the thunderous noise of the whale's yawn.

"I said we're..." Iris began shouting out again, but it was too late. The whale sucked in the _Bat Out of Hell,_ swallowing the ship and it's crew members whole.

***

"Wha...what _is_ this place?" Said Shade, looking even more bewildered then when he had witnessed the whale. What they were now seeing was a place that looked like sunny sky, with a small island ahead in front of them. On the small lump of land there stood a small looking shack. "Didn't we just get eaten? Why the hell are we back outside?"

"Maybe there's someone in that shack, perhaps they could tell us something." Wondered Iris. Almost on cue, the door on the house slammed open, revealing a very aged man with a hairdo that reminded Shade of a flower.

He gave them an evil eye. "Eh? Just what do you all want? Why are you here?" He asked sternly.

"That's what we wanna know!" Said Shade in protest. "We were gobbled up by this huge whale, and then we found ourselves in here!"

The old man's cold eyes lightened up a bit. "Oh, so Laboon just ate you." He said, as if that statement would answer all the questions Shade had.

"Laboon? Is that that whale's name?" Asked Shade, his patience running thin."Well then, do you mind explaining why after this Laboon ate us we winded up here?"

"Of course, this is his stomach." Answered the old man simply.

"His stomach? Than what's with these clouds?" Asked Kai.

"I painted them." Answered the old man. "Makes the place more friendly. By the way, my name is Crocus."

"Hey old man, what's all the commotion out here for?" From inside the house, emerged another figure. He was a much younger man who looked to be about 19 and wore a black jacket over a green under shirt with dark blue pants, and sported brown hair with bangs.

"And just who's this guy?" Asked Shade, pointing to the now emerged figure.

"My name is Spike." Said the young man, introducing himself. "And just who might you be?"

"Hey now, if we're going to make small talk, I suggest you all come inside." Said Crocus, inviting the crew in his house. "I don't want you all yelling back and forth to each other over pointless things."

***

"Ah, so you guys are pirates, huh?" Said Spike as he led Shade and the gang into the house. "So I take it you guys just arrived here at the Grand Line, am I right?"

"Yeah." Said Shade. "So, what's the deal with this whale here? Why the hell are people living in here?" He asked.

"I'm this whale's doctor." Answered Crocus. "When they get to be this big, you gotta work on them from the inside."

"Well, what about you?" Asked Kai, pointing to Spike. "Why are you living in here? Are you this guy's assistant or something?"

"No, nothing like that." Said Spike with a shrug. "You see, not that long ago, I came here to the Grand Line from the East Blue, but the ship I was using couldn't really hold up after landing after landing from Reverse Mountain, and this whale swallowed me up, and I met Crocus here. Since I don't have a boat or money anymore, I've just been crashing here inside Laboon, practicing my music."

"Music? You're a musician?" Asked Shade, his interest in this man suddenly increasing.

Spike motioned to a guitar. "Yeah, I am. I guess you could say I'm a traveling musician of sorts. I came here to Grand Line because I heard there are places that will pay you a lot more than in the Blues. And with my Devil Fruit, I feel like I can take on anyone who wants to fight me for whatever reason."

" A Devil Fruit?" Shade's interest was only getting bigger.

"You bet." Said Spike. Demonstrating he held out his open palm, and in an instant, a blue, see-through, spherical object appeared in his hands. The Renegade Pirates watched in silent amazement. "The Hadou Hadou Fruit. Energy waves, auras...I can control them."

"Alright, that does it!" Said Shade suddenly, pointing at Spike. "You're joining my crew!"

"Huh?" Said Spike with a mild look of surprise on his face. "Should you really be asking that to someone you just met?"

"You've shown me enough! And I've concluded you have far too awesome abilities to not join my crew!" Answered Shade stubbornly.

Spike thought about this offer for a moment. "Alright then." He agreed. "I suppose I can't be living in a whale's stomach forever now, can I?"

Shade did a fist pump. "Alright!" He said. "Welcome to the Renegade Pirates!" He told his new crew mate, Spike.

"Well, that's nice and all, but just how do we get out of here?" Asked Lilli, still not seeing how to get out of this big whale. Unless of course it was _that_ way out...

"Oh, you didn't see it?" Asked Spike. He pointed out the window. "There's an exit door over there." They followed his hand, and sure enough an exit was visible on the walls of the whale's stomach.

"Well then, shall we get going?" Asked Iris, wanting to get out of Laboon and resume their journey.

"Hold on." Said Crocus, pulling something out of his pocket and giving it to Shade. It looked like a bracelet that had an orb which contained a compass attached to it. "If you're going through the Grand Line, you'll need this."

"What is it?" Asked Shade, looking at the object.

"Oo! I know what it is!" Said Riana, snatching the object away from Shade. "It's a log pose! The compass they use in the Grand Line!"

"Right. The climate and weather of the Grand Line are truly unpredictable. That is the only thing you can trust in this ocean." Said Crocus. "Well, that's about it, I suppose. Good luck to you all. As the crew turned to leave, a smile cracked the old man's lips. _Heh, this crew..._He thought_I dunno why, but for some reason they remind me of a certain other crew I met... _His smile widened as he recalled the emblem that was painted on Laboon's head.

***

A/N: And there you have it? What did you think? Of course they were going to see Laboon silly...it only makes sense. And we've got a musician too! Once again, the character Spike was made by xdrake24. Next chapter, this little story of mine will REALLY start to begin...until then, leave a review and tell me how I'm doing!


	17. Wish You Were Here I

A/N: Hey evryone, me again. This time I'm bringing the first chapter in my first real arc as we head into the Grand Line. Please enjoy!

***

After the events that occurred within the stomach of Laboon, the Renegade Pirates found themselves finally sailing across the Grand Line, along with their new nakama, Spike. Zucchero was at the helm, steering the ship, while Riana was navigating, examining her new Log Pose, while everyone else was gathered out on the deck.

"Hmm....It says we should go north!" Said, Riana, looking at her log pose and then gave the command to Zucchero.

"North?" Said Zucchero with a confused look. "You told me to go south 10 minutes ago! You wanna head back? Are you sure that things working?"

"Of course! That old man in the whale said it's the only thing we can trust in the ocean! We have to go north!" Riana said back simply.

Zucchero gave a sigh. "Seesh, I feel like we're going in circles..." Nonetheless, he complied, as he began to turn the ship around.

"So, Spike." Asked Shade, trying to make their newest crew mate feel more at home. "Just how good of a musician are you?"

Spike paused and thought about it for a second. "Well," he said, trying not to sound like he was bragging, though he secretly was. "I don't think I'd have come to the Grand Line if I didn't consider myself a grand musician, would I?"

"Then why don't you play us something?" Asked Shade, with somewhat of a challenging voice. "I've never actually play anything on that guitar. I wanna hear something!"

Spike gave a I-got-nothing-better-to-do shrug as a smile spread across his face. "Alright then." He said. "Just gimme a sec while I go get my guitar."

***

Within a few minutes, Spike had reappeared on the deck, guitar in hand, as every crew member, sans Zucchero and Riana, gathered around him anxious to hear his music.

"Alright then," He said. He cleared his throat has he positioned his hand on the guitar. "This song is called..."

"Island! It's an Island! I see an island!" Said Riana suddenly, yelling loudly to inform everyone. "I see an island!"

Zucchero gave another sigh, this one of relief. "Thank goodness..." He muttered. "I was afraid we were getting lost..."

Everyone then rushed to the front of the deck, abandoning Spike and his guitar. _Che, maybe some other time..._ Thought a slightly disappointed Spike as he rushed to get a glimpse as well.

"Where is it? I don't see it." Said Iris, seeing nothing but blue ocean in front of her.

"Look closer!" Said Riana, pointing her finger. Iris squinted a bit, and indeed in the distance she could see a small speck of and island in the distnace.

"Can't really see it right now..." Noted Shade, with even his Devil Fruit-enhanced vision not able to help him make out the details.

"Here, use, this!" Said Riana, presenting him with a pair of binoculars. Shade took them and looked through the binoculars. What he saw almost caused him to drop the binoculars into the ocean.

When the crew had arrived at Born to Run Island, Shade had thought the island looked amazing, but this island made Born to Run look like nothing. Dazzling skyscrapers decorated the island at heights which the likes Shade had never seen before. Lush, tropical greenery could be seen wherever there wasn't some sort of amazing looking building. It was like Shade had just been transported into the future. He could also make out port where they could dock. Above this port there stood a large white wooden sign, with words painted on it in red:

**Welcome to "Wish You Were Here Island"**

**Where Everyone Wishes They Could Be**

"'Wish You Were Here' Island?" Said Shade, sounding a little skeptical. "Sounds kinda sketchy to me..."

"Wish You Were Here?" Said Zucchero, eyes lighting up. "I've heard of that place!"

"You have?" Asked Kai.

"Don't forget, I was born and raised here in the Grand Line." Explained Zucchero. "Anyways, yeah, I've heard some amazing things about this place. Apparently it's considered one of the greatest places on earth. High economy, high peace rate, high development, high temperatures...the only thing that's low is the crime rate...I've heard crime is almost nonexistent here...A true paradise island."

"That sounds way too good to be true." Said Lilli, sounding skeptical of the statement, taking what Zucchero had said as completely unbelievable. How could one place be that good? Surely there was some sort of flaw.

"I know, I'm just saying what I heard." Said Zucchero. He looked outwards, towards the approaching islands. "I guess we'll find out when we get there."

***

After another hour or so of sailing, the _Bat Out of Hell_ finally arrived at it's much anticipated destination. As it pulled into the port, the whole crew stared and wonderment as they were able to see the amazing island up close.

"Sure looks amazing." Said Lilli, looking in wonderment at the large city that could be seen in the distance. "The weather is gorgeous, too."

"I'll say." Said Kai in agreement. "And based on the fact that there are palm trees everywhere, I'll bet that the weather is like this everyday."

"That is correct, sir!" Called out a voice from the port. The crew looked over the side to see a very tall, dark-skinned man in a doorman outfit waving to them.

"Who are you?" Asked Iris.

"Ah, my apologies for not introducing myself!" Said the man with a big, warm, friendly, smile. "My name is Jarule. I shall be your guide on this island!"

"Guide? What do you mean guide?" Asked Spike.

"Come on down and I'll show you!" Said Jarule as he motioned for them to disembark, waiting for them to come down.

***

"You see," Explained Jarule as he led the gang from the port to the city ahead. "This island is known for it's large tourism. After all, it's one of the most extravagant and richest islands in the world. Millions flock every year to this place, wanting to get away from their normal lives. And since this city is very expensive to live in, most of the people you'll see here are tourists as well. So to make things easier, a guide is deployed for each group of visitors that come to this island." He paused, before going on. "And there is one more reason why guides are deployed here."

"What is it?" Asked Riana, looking desperate to know.

Jarule looked almost giddy as he put a finger to his lips. "It's a secret." He said. "You'll see when we arrive at the city."

***

"And here we are!" Said Jarule, as they entered the city. Night was beginning to fall, and the Renegade Pirates continued to be amazed as the city was beginning to illuminate full of lights. People were buzzing about as the streetlights that hung over smoothly paved roads clicked on as they city only now seemed to come to life.

"Wow, this place looks really amazing now." Said Lilli, finding Zucchero's tale a little more believable now that he was seeing the city up close.

"I'll say." Said Shade, wanting to explore this city to the fullest. He began to walk forward, but suddenly he was stopped by Jarule.

"Hold on," Said Jarule, sticking his arm in front of Shade. "You don't want to go that way."

"Why not?" Asked Shade. Suddenly, something whizzed by all of them at an amazing speed. It caused everyone except for Jarule to jump back a little.

"W-what was that?" Said a startled Shade, knowing that Jarule had just saved him from whatever it was that had whizzed by them.

Jarule's face broke out into another cheery smile. "That is the other reason why guides are deployed." He said. "Most visitors don't know much about automobiles."

"Automobiles?" Asked Kai. The term as unfamiliar to him, as was it with the rest of the crew.

"Yes, a true breakthrough in transportation machinery, and part of Wish You Were Here's state of the art technology." Explained Jarule. "It takes some skill to drive one though, so guides are also deployed to drive visitors around the city."

"Really! That sounds awesome!" Remarked Shade. He still was kind of confused onto what exactly an automobile was, but they sounded cool.

"I'm glad you like them." Said Jarule. "I'm taking you all to mine."

***

"Woah, this too cool!" Said Riana as she pressed her face against the window from inside Jarule's black, classical-looking vehicle. The crew had fit themselves into the back of the car, while Shade sat up front with Jarule, who was driving the vehicle throughout the streets of the city.

"Hmmm..." Said Zucchero as they passed some fancy looking restaurants. "The food at these places must be good. I wonder if I can get any recipes while I'm here..."

Spike noticed a coffee lounge as they drove throughout the streets. _Heh, wonder If I can make any money if I play there..._He wondered to himself.

"How long do you all intend on staying?" Asked Jarule offhandedly, not taking his eyes of the roads.

"I dunno..." Said Shade. He'd love to stay here forever, but he had other things to do, namely become the Pirate King. "How long does it take for the Log Pose to adjust?" He asked.

"The Log Pose? Two days." Answered Jarule, holding up two fingers. "If you'd like, I know a good hotel that has a 'Log Pose' bargain of 100,000 Beli for a two night stay. Would you like me to take you there for the night?"

"Sure!" Said Shade. They still had about two million Beli that they took back on Rebirth Island, they'd still have a lot of money to spend on the island.

"Then we're off!" Said Jarule as he turned a corner and drove to their new destination.

***

"And here we are." Announced Jarule as they pulled up to a nice looking hotel. He got out of the car, then opened the doors of Shade and the crew as they exited the vehicle. "I will be back tommorow. Perhaps then we can do some sightseeing, eh?" He hinted.

"Sounds fun! I can't wait!" Said Shade, wondering if he'd get any sleep tonight out of excitement of the idea.

With a wave goodbye, Jarule got back into his car and drove off, as the Renegade Pirates began to walk into the hotel.

"I've gotta admit, I'm impressed." Said Lilli, impressed at what he had seen. "This really is like something from a fantasy world."

"Can't wait to explore this place tomorrow." Said Zucchero. "We should get some breakfast at one of those fancy restaurants..."

"Man, this place is gonna be fun!" Said Shade as they walked into the hotel. Inside it, hundreds of other guests slept, coming off a day as equal as enjoyable as the one the Renegade Pirates of had, dreaming of being able to live here forever.

None of them were aware of the horrible, impending danger that lay upon all of them.

***

A/N: And there you have it? What did you all think? I can't wait to write more, it's gonna be a great arc...stay tuned for more! And submit a review while you're at it!


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